Ice and Fire
by AlSmash
Summary: He was told to return as a great general or not at all, three days after his world was shattered in a hail of bullets. She saw her entire family gunned down in front of her. They were both ten years old. Almost eight years have passed and now their wars are only just beginning. And by the time they're finished, the whole world will know their despair.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Pendragon, 2010 a.t.b.

Everything felt so surreal to him even now as he slowly made the walk from the opened doors of the audience chamber to the man who sat like a God upon his ornate throne. In a way, it was an apt description of the man. From that throne the world held bated breath as his very word could change the entire world in an instant, where a single man could order an entire third of the world to render hull upon his enemies or those who dared irritate him. From that throne he had forged an Empire that few dared to challenge, and fewer dared to fight. God Emperor indeed. After all, his Empire was holy, wasn't it?

Yet for the small boy who strode towards, this God, with righteous indignation, the man before him was neither God nor Emperor, he was his father. A father, who had not seen nor talked to his son or daughter after his wife, their mother, had been brazenly gunned down by terrorists in the very home that was believed to be secure second only to the Imperial Palace itself.

This was a father whose daughter, his precious sister, lay in an induced coma in which the doctor's were not even sure she would awaken from. And if she did, she would never be able to walk again.

Thus was a father who seemed to care nothing for the motherless children who were now alone. Instead he sat upon that throne without a single damn sense of dignity to say anything.

That was why he was here, he would make that man see, and he would bring him to task. There was no way himself and Nunnally could survive in a family that had more in common with sharks than humanity. He had to act! He had to make this man see!

Yet he was the one to see exactly how it was as he continued striding towards the man who would not fulfill his duty as a father. The hushed whispers, the razor-sharpened verbal barbs muttered amongst fellow nobles, it made it so blatantly obvious there were no allies here, only wolves who watched as an impudent pup dared challenge the alpha male of the pack. They spoke words of disgust, for his family, for his friends. He hated them, he wished they would all vanish, scurry away back under their rocks like the insects they were. All he wished was for this man who wore the mask of his father to do SOMETHING...ANYTHING...for them.

He stood before the God-Emperor now and knew once and for all as he noted the man's dismissive expression he would get none of that, that there was a strong possibility he would only get the ruler who would damn himself and Nunnally as weaklings, death in all but action.

Which meant that he, Prince Lelouch vi Britannia, seventeenth heir to the Imperial throne, must make him see!

"Hail Your Majesty, my mother the Empress is dead."

"Old news," the God-Emperor rumbled, "what of it?"

His small fingers dug into his palms hard enough to draw blood. How DARE he!

"What of it?!"

"You sought an audience with the Emperor of Britannia simply to inform me of that," his head turned to an aide ready to dismiss his misbehaving son like the child he was, "send the next one in, I have no time for these childish games."

He wouldn't have it; he refused to let it be that. He refused to be dismissed by that man, not before he had his answer. So instead of meekly taking the dismissal, he charged up the stairs, causing that man's honor guards to begin interposing themselves between this threat, ridiculous or not.

"FATHER!"

A raised hand stopped the two men as they came to attention, shouting the signature "Yes, Your Majesty," that had been bred into them since birth.

He could feel his rage boiling, he could feel the adrenaline rushing, yet he had no weapons, only words, and words could be weapons in their own right, like an archer aiming to strike the heart of his target. Maybe it would be that way he could reach that man.

"Why didn't you keep Mother out of harm's way? You're the Emperor, the greatest man in this nation, if not the world, you should've protected her and now you don't even visit Nunnally," he shouted, eyes trembling as he beseeched the man who was his father, yet wasn't.

"I've no use for that weakling."

"That weakling," he 0staggered over those words, a mixture of shock and apprehension clouding his judgment, shock that he would call his own flesh-and-blood a weakling, but the words were like a nightmare as they slowly trickled into his mind, because they were the words that doomed his sister, who had never hurt anyone, to a life-filled death.

"That is what it means to be royalty," he responded, as if the mere explanation enough was to clarify everything, instead it only made him enraged, he had nothing, if Nunnally was doomed to death, then he had no one left, no reason…

"Then I don't want to be your heir, I give up my claim to the throne," those words, filled with such rage and indignity escaped his lips without any conscious thought, there were the very words of his heart, a dying heart that had nothing, and even as his mind grappled with the weight of those words, the core of his being approved of them. He wasn't this heartless beast who worse the skin of his father, he was Lelouch vi Britannia, he was Marianne vi Britannia's son, not this bastards!

The gasps girded him, they filled him with the pride that he had struck a blow into the façade of this indignity, of this false justice, this false order; it was nothing more than a sham, a playground of jackals. And he cast the stone that cracked it, and he could only continue on, his heart demanding he continue.

"I'm sick of the fighting and scheming over who will succeed you Father, I have had enough!"

"You are dead," the God-Emperor declared, his eyes narrowing in barely congealed fury at his audacity, "you have always been dead to me, dead from the moment you were born. Who gave you the fine clothes you were and the comfortable home? The food you eat and your very life? All of those I have given you. In short, you are nothing to me because you have never existed. Yet you dare speak such foolishness to me?!"

As he rose from his throne, Lelouch felt every urge to flee this man, yet he couldn't, he wouldn't. He refused to show his back to this false father, this monster, so he stared with all the defiance he could muster at the man who leered down at him as he continued his denunciation.

"Lelouch, you are dead, therefore you are not entitled to any rights. I am sending you and Nunnally to Japan, as Prince and Princess. You will serve as bargaining tools."

There it was, death by exile, even he at his tender age knew exactly what would entail in Japan, sooner or later his father would grow weary of Japan and invade it, more than likely he would have them killed. It was just like this man to place them to a living death, it was his cruel and sadistic means, that much was obvious now, and this man was never his father. He was merely a God-Emperor who could do anything he pleased because he had the power.

As the guards moved towards him to carry take him away, he simply stepped forward, a gasp ringing through the chamber.

"No," he spat with all of the hate, indignity, and rage that coiled within his being. He would not be dismissed by this man, he would make his stand here, where there was only victory or death, and he would not stand for a life in which he was already dead, not from him!

This caused the God-Emperor to blink in disbelief even as everyone held their breath. What was happening was beyond the pale, to defy the Emperor so blatantly was something you just DIDN'T do, not in Emperor Charles' reign.

"What?"

"I refuse to obey your command," Lelouch continued, it was all he could do, that in itself was a hidden reservoir of strength for him.

Just as the guards were upon him, the Emperor held up his hand, staring at him, as if deciding what to make of this display, and for a moment, Lelouch could have sworn he saw the twitch of his lips in a smirk.

"Why," was the sole word that escaped the God-Emperor's lips a mixture of amusement and curiosity tingeing that heavy word fraught with so much meaning.

"I am already dead to you," he declared, his violet eyes not leaving the deep purple of the God-Emperors, "therefore I have no purpose to exist. Being sent to Japan as a pawn is beneath me! I would rather die a king in my own right than a pawn in your game!"

The entire room was on life-support now, not a single word was uttered, not a single breath breathed, everyone was too shocked by the event before their eyes, as Emperor and subject stared each other down for what seemed like an eternity. Two egos clashing with one another for dominance, where if anyone blinked, they would miss something that was forever being recorded into their minds.

And then like fine china dropped to the ground, it shattered, as the Emperor started to chuckle for quickly turning into full-throated laughter, his voice booming through the audience hall.

"Maybe I was wrong about you," he declared, standing up and walking towards Lelouch, towering over the young Prince, before reaching out and placing his hand upon his shoulder. For the life of Lelouch, it was the only time he had something this personal transpire between the two of them, yet the bridge was already burned, they did not stand as father and son, instead, they were Emperor and Heir, "I rescind my decision. There appears to be some use for you yet."

Then the contact was gone as the God-Emperor withdrew his hand and started back towards the throne, his cape fluttering behind him before he settled back upon the throne, his eyes lowering themselves back upon Lelouch.

"Lelouch, remember this moment I have shown you leniency. The next time you come here, it will either be as a victorious general or as a warning to future generations that some cases of audacity are merely the ravings of the weak. Now, begone from sight!"

_So that was it_, he thought as he bowed, for Nunnally to live a happy life, he must wage war upon the enemies to her happiness.

His eyes darted one more time to the God-Emperor who sat upon the throne looking down upon him.

_Including yourself._

0000000000000

Japan, August 21st, 2010 a.t.b.

She was scared, that was the only thing that ten-year old Kallen Stadtfeld could understand as several men dressed in military uniforms angrily yelled at her father. Everything was so loud and moving in such a blur, it had so long ago when she had been playing happily with Isabella and Morgan. Now her father had been trying to drive them across Japan, saying they had to get to the Tokyo Embassy, there they would be safe.

She didn't know what war was, she had only heard of it murmured by her mother and father when they thought she and Naoto had been sleeping. Even Naoto had been mum to talk to her about it, saying it wasn't something she should be concerned with, that war wasn't something that was going to happen. All of the grown-ups were saying that "cooler heads would prevail" and there would be peace.

She still remembered the sirens as her mother came running her room, getting her up and hurriedly getting her dressed, saying they had to go on a trip. She knew it was a lie, her mother was terrified, something she had only seen when she had done something dangerous. It was like the world had been put upon its head.

And so they had fled, fled into the foothills where father had kept a cabin and they had waited there as the world seemed to turn apocalyptic.

She still remembered the skies lit in the middle of the night with orange. Naoto had said they were fires, while mom and dad had said nothing, only looking worriedly in the distance. She had listened as peopled talked about "news of the war" and how "Britannia would prevail", they had no meaning other than they were the land she faintly remembered, a place that was so different than the land they lived in now. The sounds of grand explosions like fireworks filled the night off and on, the lightshows beautiful to her, even as a part of thought it was the end of the world.

And then suddenly, it stopped. The lights on the horizon hadn't, but the booms had. And so they had waited another day, she had slept fitfully on a stomach full of her mother's cooking, as her parents read a story to her, it was both the happiest and most worrisome day for her. It was a day mommy and daddy weren't fighting and arguing.

The next morning they had decided to pack. Her father had said that his friends hadn't come here yet, that they needed to go before things got worse. He said that they could get someplace safe, that his nobility would protect them. They just needed to get to something called an embassy. Her mother hadn't even argued and they all got into the car and set on their trip back. Naoto had tried to keep her distracted, but she saw what the fires were, she saw the people who looked so sad and so lost, she wanted to help them, but mom and dad insisted that they couldn't that they had to make it to safety.

And then they had stopped all of a sudden, her mother speaking really quickly to father before turning back to both her and Naoto and telling them to be quiet. She had looked to see a group of men in weird looking clothing and masks approaching the vehicle with what looked like guns.

She was scared, mother was scared, Naoto looked angry, as her father started talking with the troops who had their guns pointed at him. Suddenly the one that didn't have a mask on starting yelling at her father. She couldn't hear what was being said but he sound angry as her father tried to talk. And suddenly the man struck her father, before looking back and yelling at the others.

The men then started forward and her mother looked back at them.

"Get out, we need to get out," she said, panic in her voice as she got out of the car, she could only follow her mom's orders as she got out of the car. In hindsight it would be the worst mistake made.

"Captain, I assure you, I am an Earl, all I ask for is that you take a moment to look at my identification again," her father demanded.

"Identification that can easily be fabricated, too many instances of false identities flying around the last day," the man sneered, before his eyes moved towards the three of them as they entered the car, but they were more focused upon her mother after quickly scanning all of them.

"I knew it, you're smuggling Japanese," he snarled, before backhanding her father.

"Elend," her mother cried out, but was grabbed by two of them.

Her father reoriented himself and waved at her to be quiet.

"Captain, you are making a big mistake, she is mother of my children, and as Earl-!"

"I've had enough of this shit," the Captain muttered, unholstering his pistol and proceeded to shoot her father in the chest.

"FATHER," she screamed, the entire world becoming slow-motion as she watched her father, a man who was one of the nicest people she knew, could only drop to the ground, his eyes wide in shock at what had happened, before they looked one more time to her, she could see the life leaving his eyes in that brief contact and then he was gone, slumped on the ground.

"If he was an Earl, we found him on the side of the road a victim of these Japanese savages, got that men," the Captain called out.

"Yes, sir," the five other men responded.

This couldn't be happening. Father and he. What was this? Why was this? They hadn't done anything wrong. So why? WHY?!

She didn't know how she missed it, or why he even did it, but Naoto suddenly became a blur, barreling into the nearest man as she stood stock still, the taller man yelling before it became a gargle, a flash of red flying away as his throat was slit.

Everything became a blur as the men started shouting, yet, it all ended just as abruptly with the loudest sound she had ever heard, like the sound of a gigantic firecracker going off so many times that she felt the need to clasp her ears and scream, and then it was silent again and the world reverted back to its normalcy. Only that normalcy was hell itself as slowly walked towards the scene before her.

"Mother….Naoto," she breathed as she looked upon the scene, Naoto lay completely lifeless, his eyes unseeing, so many spots where blood was pouring out, while her mother was just the same, but instead of being lifeless, her eyes were locked upon her, as she tried to say something that would not come out.

She dropped to her knees, feeling hot and sticky liquid cling to her knees as she tried to process what was going on in front of her, but nothing could be understand. All that could be done was to see and to hear.

"Goddamn fucking kid," one of the men snarled, "how did he move that fast?"

"Who the fuck shot the kid and the woman? I was looking forward to getting a piece of that."

"Maybe if you actually took your marksmanship certifications you dumbass."

But she didn't want to hear anymore of that, she could only see as her mother smiled at her, as if reassuring her everything was going to be all right, and then she was gone, and she was alone. She wanted to cry, but nothing could come out, she couldn't feel anything in her to even cry, all she could feel was…numb.

Then she was wrenched back to her feet and she found herself looking into the face of one of her family's killers, his leering face enough to fill her nightmares if not for this. There was just an evil glint in his eyes as he looked her over .

"Still, at least there is something left," the man said expectantly.

"Ah man, you're into that kinda shit, I really didn't need to know that," came a response from one of the others.

"Man, you know Sanders, if it has a hole…"

"Whatever you want Sanders," the Captain called out, "that little smuggler and his little monkey cost us a man, send him his cargo scarred."

That was all the man needed to know as he gave one of the most evil smiles, like a monster had been unchained to feast upon its meal.

"Right-o," he then proceeded to start paying at her and ripping her clothes away and her mind came crashing back as she began to scream as he overpowered her futile attempts to fight.

It was then what sounded like a hundred tires squealing began to pick up in pitch until it was near unbearable for her ears. It then stopped as its source came to a stop before them.

There were three of them, tall metallic giants that glistened in the dying sunlight as they loomed over the gathering. For her feeble-mind that was trying so desperately to make any right of the world, they were the most menacing things she had ever seen, and they looked ready to eat them all.

It was then that the back of one of them opened up and a lone figure rose out of the back to a standing position.

"Captain, what the hell is this," he demanded, the man standing there, she couldn't make out any of his features, the sun to his back, but she quickly ripped herself away from the man and tried to cower back into the car. The car would protect her from this.

"Uhhh, Colonel Harrington, this is uh…we stopped this man," he pointed towards the deceased form of her father, "for attempting to smuggle Japanese and using false identification. The woman and the boy put up resistance killing Private Chalmers and we shot them as well."

"And what, pray tell, are you doing to that young girl," the man growled, his voice carrying even though it shouldn't in this type of situation.

"Uhhh, Private Enders was checking her for any contraband, sir."

"Is that so?"

The man then lowered proceeded to disembark his unit, lowering himself on a winch as he stepped forward towards the group, but instead of walking to the Captain, he walked towards her. Her!

She scrabbled into the car and slammed shut the door. She just wanted this to end! She wanted to go back home! She wanted to go back to the cabin! She wanted to wake up!

The man then came to the door and stopped at the window, leaning down and allowing her to get a good look at him.

He was an older man, maybe as old as her father, with brownish hair and hair on his face around his mouth. If anything, he looked like a dashing hero from one of the stories her mom used to read her at night. But that was so long ago.

"Hello," he greeted, even as she tried to make herself smaller, she just wanted all of them to go away.

He didn't say anything more as he stared at her for the longest time, as if he were trying to reach her through other means. She almost felt like he was trying to reach into her soul, then it was gone as he stood up and stepped away.

"Commander," he called out, before snapping his fingers.

Suddenly the other two metal giants lowered their weapons and proceeded to shoot the men, leaving the Captain the only one standing.

"Colonel what the hell are you-!"

"It's called an on-the-spot execution," the Colonel stated caustically, "it is a sentence carried out for those who have killed a noble without any due process. The man you accused of smuggling and killed was Earl Elend Stadtfeld."

He didn't allow the Captain to answer, as he reached up to snap his fingers.

"Don't," she cried, "please don't. Stop the killing."

The man stopped himself as he looked down to her before looking back up.

"Colonel, take this…thug into custody, if he resists, crush him."

One of the metallic giants moved forward and interposed itself between the Captain and herself as the Colonel focused upon her. She didn't know what to feel, she wanted the man to suffer for taking away everything, but she also wanted the Captain dead.

"I'm sorry," he said, leaning on the roof of the car as he looked in, "I didn't mean for this to happen to any of you. Can you please come out?"

She looked at him and at the warm expression on his face, and she could feel herself being drawn in. Finding herself moving slowly towards him, her tattered clothing shifting about as she opened the door.

"Thank you," the man said, holding out a hand, with a smile, "I'm Caedron."

"K-Kallen," she murmured, her eyes going back to her family who lay lifeless before him, and then she suddenly found herself being wrapped up in his cloak that he had quickly unclasped.

"Come," he said as gently as possible, "let's take you from this place."

"But, Father…Mother…Naoto…"

"Wouldn't want you to be here, Kallen. They would want you to keep going."

"But where am I going to go," she asked, trying to fight the dam that was beginning give, the warmth this man giving her defrosting her emotions as she felt the urge to cry.

"Come with me, Miss Stadtfeld, I promise you, for what has happened here, I will help you and follow you…wherever and whatever way you wish to go."

She couldn't react to it, but she knew there was truth to his words, but she couldn't tell him that. But there was a fire growing inside her, an angry fire that could only ask WHY? Why could this happen? Who could let this happen? What kind of people could breed these kinds of monsters? And she knew, deep down, that the answers were far larger than anything she could grasp at this moment, the world was too cold and too small at this moment.

But sooner or later, the fire would rise, and when it did, it would consume all of those that she viewed as her enemy.

* * *

A/N: And that does it for the Prologue. I hope you all enjoyed it. And no, this is not a declaration I am done with Catharsis & Apotheosis, it is right now a quarter done. I just had this story idea as a dream last night and it was gnawing away at me to where I have pretty much written this in 4 hours. Feel free to review, your input helps me determine if I have fouled up somewhere or maybe something to agitate a few new ideas.

Also, thanks Magery for the assist.

Until the next chapter.


	2. The Journey of a Thousand Miles

**Chapter 1**

_**The Journey of a Thousand Miles**_

**Eight years later…March 27th, a.t.b**.

Was just like it was yesterday, she thought with a hint of sadness as her eyes stared out the window.

A wrapped newspaper to the back of her head caused her to snap out of the memory, causing her to reach up to rub it.

"Are you paying attention, Kallen," Milly Ashford asked, shaking the paper at her as if she were a misbehaving puppy.

She could only smile under the stern look.

"I'm sorry Milly, I was just remembering something."

"Oh my, whatever is going to happen to Ashford when the next School President is a daydreamer," she then leaned forward with a mischievous gleam in her eyes, "unless you're daydreaming about that delicious Viscount Anders."

"Milly!"

"I knew it," the young heiress of the Ashford family cried as she quickly escaped away from her close friend's reach as she hovered around the table the rolled newspaper held up to the side of her face like a fan, "he is dreamy•

"Please Milly we need to focus on the festival budget," Rivalz cried plaintively, "it's due tomorrow for final approval. Right Nina," he looked over to the computer geek who was more intent on her computer than anything.

The mousey scientist glanced at them once, before looking back to the massive readouts on the screen as she kept typing into it.

"If the President would stop adding things onto it, then the current budget should be fine," she replied meekly, her voice barely carrying to them.

Suddenly Milly was behind her as her hands dug into the young scientist's cleavage grasping them with both hands, the only reaction was possible was a loud shriek from the junior member of the School Council as Kallen could only be grateful that Nina was the victim. The "Milly Feelers" had become legendary within the school as the President could come out of nowhere to cop a feel for comparison of her fellow female students. It was just a way of life in the school. Of course for the guys in the school, it was almost like a peep show to catch the President doing it, and it was no difference for Rivalz who looked like he was in heaven from his expression, she could swear she could see drool starting to develop at the edge of his lip.

Even her nobility and friendship could not protect her from the predation of the world's largest female pervert, especially that time in the women's bath when Milly had ambushed her and nearly drowned her while molesting her. She could almost swear that Milly Ashford was a man stuck in a woman's body.

"Why does your voice have to be as soft as your breasts are small," Milly pouted, feeling up the girl as she continued shrieking and flailing, "if one of those doesn't grow, then you will never be able to find a man. "

Kallen could only shake her head at the irony of that statement. Milly was notoriously bad about male suitor, much like herself. In fact, the two of them exchanged notes on the best ways to ditch a guy in the most humiliating of fashions. Of course, only they knew about it.

The door suddenly burst open and the final member of their Student Council burst in, attracted by the shrieks.

"Milly Ashford," Shirley Fennette cried, "what are you doing to Nina?!"

On whim, Milly released Nina to focus on the newcomer and moving towards her, even as Shirley recognized the look in Milly's face and began backing up.

"I was experimenting," Milly declared, which cause Shirley to stop backpedaling in confusion, "didn't you read in the news?"

"What news?"

"A study was published that stated that if women have their breasts handled, they will increase their bust size a few percentage points."

"Wha-Wha-who would do a study like that," Shirley stammered, turning red, Kallen trying to keep herself from laughing at the absurdity of the statement as Milly now had Shirley backed into a corner.

"The Scientific Academy of MILLY," the President cried as she grabbed Shirley's breasts and began fondling them through the poor girl's shirt.

"Milly! STOP! RAI HELP!"

_That's right_, Kallen thought, her eyes traveling down Shirley's line of sight to the white-haired teen draped on the windowsill half-in and half-out, _there's six of us_.

But then again, that's how 'The Illusionary Adonis' preferred it. Rai Hodges was a bit of a mystery to the entire population of Ashford outside of Milly and herself. He had been discovered nearly a year ago at the steps of the Academy with no knowledge of who he was outside of his name. Milly, who could easily be smitten by any attractive male, had quickly adopted him into the Academy to shelter him until he could regain his memories.

And so, he had come to be here. Inducted into the School Council he quickly became every girl's crush in the Academy, even she could admit he was rather attractive with a kind personality to back it up.

But she knew there was much more to him than the carefree personality he fronted around them.

She wondered what Shirley would think if she knew the truth that Rai was-

"President," the teen said with a yawn, obviously having been awoken by the excitement in the room, how Milly never noticed would forever stump her, "Don't we have that meeting in thirty minutes?"

Meeting? What meeting?

Victim forgotten as Milly stepped back from Shirley as the orange-haired teen wrapped her arms over her assailed bosoms.

"That's right," she chirped, Kallen noting the quick glance in her direction, wondering what that was about, "thank you Rai."

She cupped her chin in thought for a few moments before bringing her fist into an open palm, decision or idea made.

"Kallen, can you go down to the office, there should be a package labeled for the student council that just came in. Can you bring it down to the ballroom after you sign for it?"

Well, there really wasn't anything else she needed to be doing. She was actually ahead of her classes because of her schedule. It would also give her an excuse to avoid being a victim of Milly.

"Alright."

0000000000000

"Thank you Countess Stadtfeld," Miss Devries said as Kallen finished signing for the package, "here you go."

Producing the small non-descript box for Kallen to take, she then handed it to her.

"Thank you."

Taking her leave of the office she found herself outside on the concourse leading back towards ballroom.

As she walked she found her mind wandering, a common thing as of late. To be eighteen meant a lot of things to her, both good and bad, but mainly bad.

When she thought about that day it was hard to think if who she had become since then. Tomorrow, she would officially be Countess and she would assume the role of the head of the Stadtfeld Consortium, was the fourth largest weapon manufacturers outside of the homeland. She was, without a doubt, one of the most powerful women short of royalty.

Yet if you looked at her now, she would just seem a normal girl. Maybe that was what Caedron wanted for her, just to have a life. Maybe he would have succeeded if not for what had happened to her eight years ago. When her family had been gunned down in front of her with no reason other than hatred.

No, she was Kallen Stadtfeld, Countess, one of the most eligible of noble bachelorettes in Area 11 who threw off suitors so often that she was called the Ice Princess. She was beautiful, intelligent, and rich.

All things being equal, she had everything in front of her. And to be honest, she was grateful for Caedron giving her this life. But as they say, all things must come to end.

"Hey you hear about what happened last night," a male student said stopping by the fountain she was now contemplating in front of.

"Yeah, that Zero guy claimed his men hit a drug manufacturing facility for that Refrain stuff."

"No man, he did," the first student, Kallen caught a glimpse of him now out of the corner of her eye. The student was a freshman and he for every single stereotype of a nerd, "I was up last night listening to Knight Police chatter and they were pissed. Seems a few of them were corrupt."

"Shhh man," the other one was a short squat kid, Kallen recognized him as the son of a Knight, and obviously the father had sent him here because he would never amount to his glory, "if anyone hears you..."

She smirked as she began walking again, the two boys shutting their mouths as they realized that the Vice President of the Student Council had been close to them. She passed by them and could feel their eyes locked on her backside, a small feeling of revulsion passing over her before she buried it. There were better things to dwell on than underclassman hormones.

She was finally to the ballroom and paused to collect her wits and focus on her Milly-dar, the last thing she wanted was to get molested again.

As she opened the door, she realized why she was so worried for Milly. Because it was her-

"SURPRISE!"

-Birthday tomorrow.

She could only smile at the spectacle before her. Gathered in the middle of the ballroom with a large 'Happy Birthday' banner overhead and a cake with candles in between them was the Student Council and her friends. They were all decked out festively as if this was the largest thing ever in their lives.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

But standing off to the side of them, dressed in a well-tailored business suit, was her guardian, Sir Caedron Harrington.

He hadn't aged much in the eight years since that day; instead if anything he seemed more regal with the silver flecking his temples and goatee. Of course, regality was quite needed for his position now as the Regent for her estate. Ever since he had taken her in eight years ago he had been a second father to her. But more importantly, he had been the one that had even allowed her to become a Countess, fighting the countless legal battles against a system that sought to deny her simply because of the illegitimacy of her birth.

In spite of the long odds and the system against them, they had succeeded, and that was why they were here today, with this celebration and him standing there with expression of amusement and pride.

It was obvious from the fact that he was here that he had a hand in the spectacle before her, despite the very idea of a spectacle concerning her irritated her. She had always viewed pomp and spectacle for trivial things to be a complete waste of time and resources. But, she guessed she could make an exemption to this, since it would be her eighteenth and Caedron had never really been one to push this upon her.

"Thank you," she said with a smile as the door closed behind her, "it really means a lot to me that you guys would do this."

"You shouldn't just thank us," Rivalz announced, "Mister Harrington also-"

He got a swift jab in the ribs from a visibly annoyed Milly who gave him a stern look, which then quickly disappeared as she refocused upon the birthday girl.

"Well, birthday girl, can you blow out the candles?"

"If the President commands it," Kallen replied lazily.

"I do."

Stepping up to the cake she leaned down to proceed to blow it out, to the applause of everyone as she stepped back.

"Well, aren't you going to open your present," Caedron's tenor voice lilted.

"Present," Kallen looked around, somewhat confused by the question, "what present?"

"Why the one in your hand," Milly teased, "you really think I would send you on something as trivial as a box, you're the Vice President."

Glancing at the small box in her hand for a moment, she then proceeded to open it up, to reveal another case, this time a velvet case. Almost immediately she recognized it as a jewelry case and fought to hide disdain off her face, she hated pretentious things like jewelry, they offered nothing of substance.

Sighing inwardly, she proceeded to open it, finding her breath taken away in a short gasp as blue flashed in her eyes. Inside the small box was a pair of sword-shaped earrings with a sapphire encrusted into their hilt. They were elegantly shaped and to be honest, she had to suspend her thoughts on the jewelry for just that moment.

Her eyes darted to Caedron who gave an imperceptible shake of his head, but as her eyes went back to the group, they froze at the imperceptible hand signal that he made. It was a quite simple "We'll talk about this later."

_Of course it would be a gift from him._

"Thank you," she said graciously, bowing her head slightly.

"Well come on, aren't we going to dig into the cake," Rivalz asked.

_Leave it to Rivalz with the social grace of a common housefly, _she thought with a shake of her head.

"Sure."

0000000000000

_Kiev Oblast, Republic of Kiev, European Union._

Violet eyes looked dispassionately upon the scene before them without an emotion as howitzers boomed in the distance. The city in the distance was on the receiving end of the deadly payloads as explosions wreathed it, even from the distance he was at from time to time he saw a building collapse in on itself.

This had gone on for several hours now as he had ordered repeated artillery and air strikes on the capital of the Republic of Kiev. He had to admit that there was a certain amount of stubbornness to the local government, sadly the European Union troops had none of the courage to stand up to them. It had only taken two weeks to reach this point, two weeks of one-sided battles against forces more akin to animals than any type of military forces.

If anything he wondered if he was beginning to lose his edge, the campaign should have lasted a week at most after the taking of Nikolayev, but here he was well in to the second week and he just found himself uninspired. Maybe it was the fact that once this was done he was going to return to Pendragon to another damn ceremony where he got awarded another medal or title and then sent on his way to another war zone.

He sighed heavily, noting out of the corner of his eye that his Knight, Jeremiah Gottwald's frown had deepened. Obviously he had picked up on his thinking and the danger of it. After all, he was privy to the inner machinations of his lord. Maybe he was the only one that truly understood what drove him. Or maybe he was the only one that really saw it anymore, because he found himself increasingly losing sight of himself.

Five years. Five years of wars and conflicts and skirmishes against enemies who did not have a hope of defeating him. They were all distractions from his ultimate goal, a goal that even he found himself despairing that he would never have that opportunity for the throne. That somehow Schneizel would rip it from his grasp before he was ready.

For Lelouch vi Britannia, the seventeenth heir to the throne, he sometimes found himself only comforted in the fact that his dear sister had been able to live a relatively happy life upon his blood and sweat. It was seemingly the only thing that kept him going anymore.

"What's the status report on Captain Nu," he asked Jeremiah, not bothering to look in his direction.

"She's reporting a breakthrough. She claims that at current pace she should be entering the Pechersk Raion, it shouldn't be long until she-"

Lelouch had already tuned him out as he closed his eyes, imagining where Villetta Nu, the Captain of his knights would be currently positioned. Odds were she was gunning for the Presidential Palace, it was one flaw of her character that she wanted to please him, and placing the Britannian flag and his unit sigil over a landmark ranked real high in her mind for pleasing him.

"Warn her that there is a high probability of at least a squad of Hummels using the Kyivsky Metropoliten to stage an ambush out of the station ahead of her. Also in four hundred meters there will be an ambush point for RPG teams."

"Yes, Your Highness."

As Jeremiah began to relay his observations he allowed himself to visualize exactly what Villetta would do with this information, which would be to turn to the white Knightmare Frame and its pilot under her command to disrupt the plans of their enemy. It was the correct plan, the Lancelot would easily brush aside the assault simply because it was years ahead of its competition.

He could remember when just before the Middle Eastern campaign his brother Schneizel had approached him with an offer to loan him the experimental Knightmare Frame from Camelot's Advanced Special Envoy Engineering Corps. He had immediately pounced on the offer because while he may not be a Knightmare scientist, he did understand the impact such a unit would have in his forces. Of course, the pilot on the other hand was a work in progress.

When he had first met Suzaku Kururugi he had been stunned that his brother had approved for an Honorary Britannian to pilot something as powerful as the Lancelot, it was a serious faux pas to have an Honorary Britannian in any position like that. But those reservations had been dispelled after he had witnessed the former Eleven in action during the Middle Eastern Front. And after that, he came to quickly recognize the benefits of both the Knightmare and the pilot, so much so that he had decided to re-appropriate it on a permanent basis.

Still, getting the pilot to become a loyal follow was a taxing experience. If anything, Suzaku Kururugi was the ideological antithesis to himself, where his cynical realpolitik clashed with the Honorary Britannian's naïve sense of order and justice. If there wasn't at least some merit to his arguments Lelouch would have by now just declared him an idiot and be done with him, but in a way, and he was loath to admit to anyone, Kururugi was a nice breath of fresh air in his world. Well, that and the fact that the Kururugi name could be quite helpful in the future when he did decide to move against his father.

So it was a case of quid pro quo between Kururugi and himself, Kururugi provided success for the both of them and Lelouch acted as his shield in the court. There was honestly no doubt in his mind that Kururugi was Knight of the Round caliber and with the influx of new blood into the Knights of the Round, it would be quite helpful in the long run if he could entertain some allies of that caliber.

But again, that was a ways off, all he knew was that Kururugi was as professional as Captain Nu and he could achieve the objectives he had placed before them. He would win again and they both would continue the meteoric rise to the top.

Not too bad for the White Death and the Demon of Britannia, if one were to admit it.

His thoughts were suddenly cut off as he noted the sudden change in the tempo of noise coming from the city, it wasn't too obvious, but even at this distance he could tell the differences in sounds between weapons that Britannia and his enemies used.

_So_, he thought with a hint of disappointment, _it ends now_.

"Your Highness, Villetta is reporting she has…"

"Suspend the bombardment," Lelouch commanded with a hint of tiredness, already knowing what Jeremiah was about to say, "tell Villetta to move to take the Presidential Palace, order the Eighth and Sixteenth Corps up to reinforce the Thirteenth in taking the major hubs. It seems like the Ukrainians have decided that enough is enough."

He slowly lowered himself into the cockpit of his Gloucester, folding his arms as he settled into the chair, his eyes sliding shut.

Secretly, he was grateful that the Ukrainians at least had a modicum of common sense, once they realized that urban warfare wasn't going to attrite his forces, they quickly accepted the terms he had laid out. Unconditional surrender, the leaders would be allowed to maintain their posts until the establishment of an official Britannian appointed government had decided what to do with them, really, it a case that Ukraine was simply under new ownership.

Well, at least until the homeland decided what to do its newly conquered territory. Hopefully they wouldn't turn over to those damn pretenders that called themselves the Euro Britannia. If Britannia was bad with how it treated its conquered subjects, the Euro Britannians were even worse. He had seen the reports on the prison camps that had been erected by that regime and needless to say, if they took control of the Ukraine, death might be the merciful option. If there was one thing that Schneizel and himself agreed unanimously on. The Euro Britannians were nothing more than rabid beasts that as soon as the European Union was destroyed would turn their sights upon Britannia itself.

"Politics. How tiresome."

His eyes opened as he looked over to where Jeremiah was back beside him in his own Gloucester, it was obvious immediately that he had fallen asleep.

"How long have I been out," he asked, a trace of nervousness in his tone, but only Gottwald would recognize it.

"About twenty-five minutes, Lelouch. You've been going it for the last thirty-six hours…"

"Which is no excuse," Lelouch retorted, rubbing his forehead as he straightened himself up.

"And if there were any problems I would have alerted you," the Margrave finished, "the Ukrainian Defense Forces are throwing down their arms and surrendering as per your conditions. Villetta has taken the Presidential Palace and has raised the banner…"

Lelouch could only snort as his predictions were confirmed, "Leave it to Villetta to want to make the world know that it was I who conquered the enemy."

"She only wants to make sure you get the proper credit due," Jeremiah reasoned, "it wouldn't do if your siblings try and claim credit for the subjugation-"

"Are you sure it isn't because Villetta doesn't want a noble title," the Prince inquired caustically, "after all, when you recruited her you did tell me that her that in addition to her aggression and intelligence she was a fast burner."

Immediately as he said that he realized his mistake in questioning Jeremiah's insight. Jeremiah had never done him wrong and to be honest, he had approved of her himself with the same rationalization that she was intent on rising up the ranks. That was just part of her personality in which he could use for his benefit.

He waved his hand to dismiss Jeremiah's defense.

"My apologies."

"You don't need to apologize for that, Your Highness. It is perfectly understandable that you are just worried-"

Another wave of his hand was all that was needed to quiet his Knight.

"We've been at this for five years Jeremiah. Five years of fighting enemies who simply do not have a chance to defeat us. Does it wear on you?"

His Knight hesitated, it wasn't exactly often when Lelouch would ask for his opinion on something like this, and when he did, it was usually because he was thinking of something else. He cared for his charge, but there were times in which he knew he was dealing with a mind that was just several orders ahead of his own. All he could do is answer based upon his heart in this case.

"As long as I am by your side, Your Highness, I do not grow weary of these wars."

He knew it was the wrong answer when his liege-lord merely arched an eyebrow at him, as if he were a child who didn't understand the most simple of questions.

"I am. I grow weary of not having a challenge, as irrational as it sounds," he said with a bitter laugh while shaking his head, "Nunnally's life is dependent upon my success and here I am wanting someone who could actually put her in jeopardy."

The turquoise-haired Knight could only frown at his Prince's statement. He had to wonder if it was the exhaustion that was talking or if this was just really the Lelouch underneath all of the masks that he put up. He would follow his Prince to hell and back for Lady Marianne, but there were times like these where he couldn't fathom the logic of him. Wanting a challenge that could place him in jeopardy? By God, it was almost like he wanted to threatened, just that thought made chills run down his spine. Yet he knew the keen mind behind the eyes of his former Empress, he knew the dangers of a mind that was bored, and he knew combined with his Prince's aspiration it could be deadly. Idle minds had a tendency of choosing a course of action that was not in its best interest.

"It's only natural to want a challenge, but, Your Highness, you are aware of the adage be careful what you wish for, it might come true."

Violet eyes blinked a moment at the insight before a smile framed its owners face; it was that smile that earned him his title, the type of smile that made enemies seek whatever rock they could hide under.

"Maybe I want that wish to come true, have you ever thought of that, Margrave Gottwald. Let me tell you about a problem my dear brother Clovis is having in Area 11, a problem that he is trying so hard to keep Father from becoming aware of."

Intrigued, Jeremiah held out a hand and caught the tossed datapad that Lelouch always kept on his person at all times. Tapping it active, he found himself looking at a screencapture of an individual wearing an ornate clown mask, with one side happy while the other was sad.

"Meet Zero, the proverbial thorn in my brother's side. The first warning of his existence was two years ago when a bunch of pamphlets and leaflets began appearing in the Tokyo Settlements ghettoes. It wasn't anything special in material, typical appeals to emotion and Eleven nationalism, but what was different was the scale. It was in all of the ghettoes at once, with enough for everyone."

Jeremiah blinked at those words, he had to agree at the unusualness of the scale in which his Prince was talking. He was aware of usual Area chicanery by Numbers, but this was different.

"My brother, of course, wrote it off as the usual attempts by the JLF to incite a rebellion in the Settlement that failed. Then Demosthenes began appearing in the local editorials questioning the morality and integrity of the choices for keeping the Elevens in a state of serfdom. It reasoned that keeping a nation that in some areas was on superior technical terms than our own would be unwise in the long run, pointing out the danger of leaving those with superior knowledge, regardless of race or ethnicity, in a state of squalor was liable to turn them into the largest threat to local security. Instead of shutting it down, my brother tried to argue with Demosthenes in the editorials, you can figure how that turned out."

"Not well," he replied dryly.

"This went on for a good year or so, and then Zero appeared on the internet. At first he was written off as one of those Anonymous types, you know, bored types that sat back criticising the system. Even the Area intelligence wrote it off as a random guy just squawking, at least until Zero's Noppera-bō started attacking targets that Zero laid out in his announcements, wiping them out utterly. That's when Clovis started sweating."

"It sounds like you admire this Zero."

"What isn't there to admire, Jeremiah? In the seven months since Zero appeared, major crimes in the Tokyo Settlement has become virtually nonexistent. But what really makes me admire him is the man himself. He's doing exactly what I would be doing. You know the only people he has spared has been the nobles involved in the crimes just so he can use them to show just how corrupt our system is when they get off scot-free. The man is gathering followers, both Eleven and Britannian, and my brother is playing to his tune without even knowing it."

"And what makes you think that you'll get a chance to face off with this Zero person?"

"Because soon, he has no choice to escalate, or he is at that critical juncture in a revolutionary movement where he has to attack the enemy of the movement. If he fails to do so, his movement shall collapse."

"And when that happens, the Emperor will have no choice but to send me to stamp it out. I wonder what kind of person resides behind that mask."

0000000000000

"Ow!"

Kallen winced as she was enlightened to a new downside of her bust size as she tried to tape her chest as flat as possible, an impossibility for someone of her unique assets. So what was left was for her to try and minimize it. Sadly, it seemed no matter how many times she did it, she couldn't get it down.

"Here," the tenor voice of Caedron took the tape out of her hands and pulled off the job she had already done.

"Pull them to the sides," he commanded, Kallen silently following the orders and parting her breasts.

"Deep breath."

Taking a deep breath she held it as she felt his well-calloused fingers dance over her chest as he wrapped them. If it was any other man she wouldn't have this happen, but with Caedron she was perfectly comfortable, there was just a confidence and surety to everything he did and it had a natural tendency to rub off on her.

"There."

She let out the breath, feeling a slight movement at the pocket, but they held firmly in place.

She turned around to face her guardian.

"Thank you."

"You know I don't approve of this, it's too soon for you to go out there."

"Is that the strategist speaking or is it the man who has become my father," she asked tartly. They have had this argument repeatedly over the last week on whether this course of action was the best.

But he didn't answer, which she took as admittance that he was worrying as her guardian, so she turned back to the clothes laid out before her, clothes designed to eliminate her feminine figure.

Picking up the shirt she put it on, making sure that everything was in the right place before continuing to get dressed.

"We both knew this day was coming Caedron the day I made that oath to you. You haven't forgotten, have you?"

Had it really been seven years, he wondered looking at the girl that had blossomed into a woman before his very eyes. It was hard to believe that something that seemed like a lifetime ago was in actuality not too far into the past.

He could remember that day when she had admitted to him what she wanted more than anything. He had been prepared for it logically, but his heart had not been so sure then. He has been a loyal son to Britannia for all of his life up until then and to make a decision like that-

"I have not forgotten. It's just the simulators can only prepare you so much, Kallen. Nothing can prepare you for the reality that of battle. You aren't needed for this operation l, I can..."

"You said that nothing will prepare me for real battle. That's why I need to do it now, before we really are in the thick of it," she replied, fastening the last of her clothing together, "you always told me that if the general does not lead then how can he expect his subordinates to follow.

He knew he was not going to win this argument, he knew it the second he recognized the look of determination on her face. So much like her father when she got like this.

He shook his head, "you're right," he said mournfully, "I was just hoping you could have a few more days a relative normalcy."

"Life hasn't been normal since my family was gunned down."

He could only nod at the harshness in her tone.

"I'll tell Rakshata to meet us at th3 rendezvous," he relented, "just remember we have a flight for Pendragon tomorrow afternoon."

Kallen nodded, knowing that this line of conversation was closed as she turned to the last article of clothing necessary to complete her outfit.

"You told me once how when Cortes reached the New World he burned his ships. As a result, his men were well motivated. Well, that's what I'm doing."

She then grabbed the last article that was on the bench and looked at before slipping it on her head, the helmet proceeding to cover all the features that made her who she was.

"After all," she said as she turned to Caedron, allowing him to see the familiar clown mask, one side happy, and the other sad.

"I am Zero."

* * *

A/N: And there it is ladies and gentlemen. The fuse has been lit. Kallen is taking the field as Zero meanwhile Lelouch has become interested in her. Neither is aware that their decisions will have far-reaching impacts upon the future.

Thank you for those that have reviewed so far, I'm glad you have enjoyed it. Keep on with the reviews everyone; I enjoy your opinions and thoughts. If you have any question, my pm box is open, I make it a standard for me to respond as quickly as possible to you.

**Falkonrukichi: I will be providing more material on Caedron in the future. But for now, all you need to know is that he is both the guardian and teacher for Kallen. I'll have a bit more on him in the opening of the next chapter.**

**tttt: Hopefully this chapter answers your questions.**

Until Next time, I look forward to your reviews.


	3. Begins with a Single Step

**Chapter 2**

…_**Begins with a Single Step**_

_From: Lieutenant Ariadne Harrington, Analyst: Area 11 Central Analysis Bureau (A11CAB)_

_Sent: Mon March 1, a.t.b. 2018 5:32 AM 11ST (PMT+16)_

_To: HIH Lelouch vi Britannia, General, Commander: Army Group Damocles, Commander: Knights of Ignis_

_Subject: Demosthenes/Zero_

_Your Highness, the A11CAB is under explicit orders from the office of HIH Clovis la Britannia via General Bartley Asprius to not discuss Demosthenes/Zero with anyone outside of the Office of the Viceroy (OotV) without authorization. However, it is my belief that Zero is on the verge escalating into offensive operations against assets of the OotV and A11CENTCOM. Repeated entreaties to the OotV to lift the information blackout have been rebuffed on the grounds that it is the belief of the OotV that Zero is not an Existential-Level Colonial Threat (ELCT). These concerns are why I send all of the data that the A11CAB has upon the subject of Demosthenes and Zero to you in regards to your repeated queries for information concerning the subject. Attached are several files pertaining to Demosthenes and Zero, as I believe they are directly affiliated and/or are the same person. I have attached my analysis for your perusal in this regard labeled "Profile of Demosthenes/Zero"._

_The primary concern in regards to Zero is his capability and ability to appeal to the masses, both Eleven and Britannian. In the seven months since his appearance he has created an organization of Elevens and Britannians that have targeted the criminal elements of Settlement society to where crime activity has decreased by 83% in the last two months. These Noppera-bō (or The Faceless as they are sometimes called) are well-equipped and well-disciplined, suggesting that there is a level of logistical support that was heretofore unidentified due to intercepted communications between the JLF and a third party. In addition to this, the Tokyo Settlement has become bereft of JLF-supporting terrorist entities within the last two months, either through elimination by Noppera-bō or Britannian assets, or absorption by the Noppera-bō. According to my estimates, the Noppera-bō is now the sole combat-capable revolutionary entity within the Tokyo Settlement Area._

_With this power vacuum, Zero controls the destiny of all rebel activity in the Tokyo Settlement region. With that status achieved, he has been launching several coordinated military strikes upon 'soft' criminal targets, ostensibly for the vigilante actions that he has claimed his Noppera-bō exist for. However, according to data from recent scenes, the level of complexity of each operation suggests that he is escalating to a point in which it is with certainty that he is not training a vigilante group as much as he is creating a paramilitary organization with the capabilities to both directly challenge the remaining JLF forces and A11CENTCOM at the same time. This exponential escalation in the past two months have been largely ignored by A11CENTCOM and OotV who are more fixated on downplaying the Noppera-bō presence as nothing more than a series of copycats._

_Although there has been no concrete evidence that Zero possesses any Knightmare Frames, it is evident by his actions that he has not had the need to deploy any for his operation. Every single operation upon analysis have been military operations with maximum effect and minimum means using existing Chinese and Eleven weapons found upon the black market, including but not limited to anti-Knightmare Ordinances as in the event that transpired during an attack upon a Refrain facility in the Roppongi District (see attached incident report). The only possible clue that Zero might have Knightmare Frames is an incident in Yokosuka Harbor approximately a year ago by masked individuals raiding an identified JLF transport from India, this was before the appearance of Zero, but it's heavily implied that this was one of the first operations of the fledgling Noppera-bō based upon the type of tactics used (see attached incident report). Judging by communications intercepted between the JLF, a third party, and the Chinese Federation Embassy (Indian Branch), it is believed that the shipment intercepted was one in which a new type of Knightmare Frame was being smuggled in for use by the JLF. Since the incident, there has been no sighting of this unit or any of the other units. It is my belief that if Zero has these units, then there is a high probability he is holding them in reserve until they are necessary for his plans._

_It is with these incidents that I have come to believe that Zero has become an ELCT or is fast approaching that level. The recent surge in pro-Zero chatter upon Blacknet boards suggest that he is reaching a critical stage in which he must act in order to maintain his current momentum. There are only a few options available in which he can escalate. Each set of escalation ranks from a Class-B to a Class-S level threat, depending on the execution and efficacy that Zero employs in the fulfillment of his objectives. However, judging by his rhetoric, I suggest that he is planning to employ the Class-S level plan. _

_Quite simply, he is not just going to declare offensive operations against Britannia as General Asprius suspects, he will declare his intent, within the next month or so, to wage open warfare upon both Britannia AND the JLF. By pursuing this plan, he will be able to rally support behind the populist belief that both the existing Britannian system and the previous Eleven system are inherently corrupt and must be destroyed in order to create a different system based upon a system compatible to the theorized historical reasoning behind Washington's Rebellion._

_If the Noppera-bō is able to survive twelve months past that declaration, then it is highly likely that the populist uprising that would have resulted from these choices will result in a domino effect to ensue through the entirety of the Area System, with the likeliest probability that Britannia will find itself fighting a multiple-front internal insurrection in which it will be unable to cope with due to the asymmetric nature of populist uprisings. It is my estimation, and I apologize for this, Your Highness, that if the Noppera-bō is successful beyond their initial surge, then Britannian will find itself having to sue for peace with the Noppera-bō in order to stabilize its war economy for the current conflicts with the EU and Chinese Federation. Any sort of major disruption in the current Sakuradite production schedule can and will have drastic and crippling effects upon Britannia and leave it in a state in which it will not only be unable to continue its offensive operations, but it will find defensive operations increasingly difficult as well. This analysis does not take into account the civilian economic impact of a disruption in the Sakuradite, but the possible economic impact with the current GDP to Military Spending ratios will result in the possibility of an economic crash that could result in full on economic depression comparable to or exceeding the levels of the Sakuradite Embargo of a.t.b. 2009._

_I've attached all of my analyses, reports, and projections, as well as any file pertaining to the actions of Demosthenes, Zero, and the Noppera-bō since their appearances that I am able to access. I hope you can use this information for some good, I highly doubt HIH and General Asprius will do anything before Zero starts escalating._

_A Loyal Officer,_

_Lieutenant Ariadne Harrington, A11CAB_

0000000000000

Rai Hodges was nervous. He didn't like being nervous, to be nervous was to make mistakes. But how could one not be nervous when every fiber of your being is screaming that you should not be this exposed.

But the orders from Zero had been "_Wait at the underground station at Shinjuku with your cell"_. He could not disobey those orders. Not when he was one of the cell commanders under Zero.

He still found himself wondering why he gravitated to the Noppera-bō, there wasn't any reason he should, he was relatively successful and had a future outside of the Ashford Academy. Yet he had felt compelled to join with them for reasons he could not understand other than it felt right. He hadn't known that he was one of the founding members of it until much later when he was promoted to a cell commander, one of the eighteen different cells that dotted the entirety of the Tokyo Settlement, or was it twenty, he didn't know anymore, the Noppera-bō was expanding a lot faster than even he could imagine.

His eyes darted to the gathering before him; he could also taste the nervous energy that seemed to crackle between everyone. This was one of the first times that they had gathered every single member of his cell together in a single area; he had never had the need of deploying all of them for the small raids and operations against criminal elements that he had been assigned in police. He knew everyone by name here, even though they all wore the distinctive white masks that denoted the Noppera-bō.

He himself wore his own mask as he looked down upon them from the catwalk, though his own mask was quite different from their own. Instead of the simplistic white mask that the rank-and-file all wore, as the commander, he wore a mask that shared some commonality with it, but was more ornate and complex in its artistic element. The eyes were covered with a silver lining that he could see out, but no one could see his eyes. In addition to that, each cell commander was given an artistic flourish on the left side of it. In his case, it was the kanji for "hope". It was rather ironic that Zero had given him that specific kanji when there were so many others that could fit him. After all, he was an Ashford Academy student who by day enjoyed the best Britannia offered and by night he fought the very system that gave him such luxuries.

His thoughts were interrupted by the crackling of his secure communications set, a gift of Zero's.

"Lead, this is Six."

Six was the sentry he had placed in the subway tunnels.

"Go ahead Six."

"I have two unmarked Knightmare trailers coming down the tunnel."

He frowned, this wasn't exactly was what he wanted to go down this evening. Knightmares were trouble, even as well as his cell was equipped, it would be a slaughter in close-quarters like this.

"Are there any Knightmares supporting them," he asked, running his decisions down.

"Negative, they're buttoned down, Lead."

"Keep me informed," he cut the line, well if they had not deployed their Knightmares; he had a chance, as he keyed his com.

"All units, defensive positions. Trident teams, set up on upper catwalk with m-"

"Orestes."

He stopped, Orestes was the challenge for an allied unit, but that was only for his unit. But this challenge had been made over his communications.

Unless...

"Electra."

A brief pause ensued before a new voice sounded on his headset, one that he had only heard in phone calls and on the net.

"This is Zero. I am arriving with two trailers, ETA five minutes."

The line then clicked, leaving a murmur to start permeating in the chamber.

0000000000000

Zero was shorter than he had expected, but then again, this was the first time he had met the leader of the Noppera-bō, the only time he had seen him was in vids.

Still, he couldn't shake a sense of unease that he had met Zero before as he talked with the gathering of men and women in Rai's cell that had come to see Zero as an icon, a visionary for their world.

Zero was impressively dressed to say the least. He had always expected Zero to be one of those peacocks that dressed ornately, like a Britannian peacock. But instead, if anything, Zero came off dressed off like something you could imagine from one of those dark science fiction movies. Outside of the distinctive clown mask, he was dressed entirely in black attire that a unique blend of utility and style. If anything, Zero could walk into a Britannian masquerade ball and probably win it all.

His bodyguard, on the other hand, was the exact opposite of Zero. Instead of the style and utility of Zero, he eschewed for simply utility with his black jumpsuit. He also wore a helmet, but it was more biker's helmet than anything, designed to hide his identity. Though, like himself, he had white kanji on the left side of it, only it was "War".

"Kusanagi," Zero's voice called his callsign, causing Rai to take his measured focus off of 'War' and back on Zero, "gather your section leaders, I will fill you in on tonight's mission."

0000000000000

"Our target tonight is Morgan Industries pharmaceuticals branch," Kallen intoned through Zero's voice modulator, her finger on the location of the target.

This led to a few murmurs breaking out, for good reason. Morgan Industries was one of the power brokers in Japan, in fact, but it was the largest manufacturer of Refrain even before Zero had appeared. As the largest manufacturer it was also the most well defended. That was why she had left it until now, but there was another reason.

"This mission has three objectives," she continued, staring levelly at each of the men and women before her around the table, "First, the complete destruction of all Refrain stockpiles, production facilities, and personnel affiliated with the manufacture of the product. Second, the destruction of all Knightpolice platforms that are currently defending the facility. And third, the recovery of all information and data from the R&D offices located on the campus."

"Zero, may I ask why we need to hit the R&D offices?"

She turned her head to the source of the question, while in this meeting they did not wear their masks, which allowed her a view at their faces. It was an older man of Japanese descent; she had to quickly recall the information on the Kusanagi cell.

"Sakurai, isn't it," the man's nod her confirmation, "my contacts within Morgan Industries indicate that there not only has Morgan Industries been working on a refined variant of Refrain, but they have been designing a counter-agent for Refrain itself. My sources indicate they have tested the prototype and it has been successful," she let that sink in and the murmurs to rise up as the section leaders were unable to contain their surprise.

Yet Rai did not join in, instead he was keeping a close on her, as if he was trying to discern who she was. To be perfectly honest she was nervous around Rai, if her identity was discovered at this stage it would be cataclysmic for everything. But Rai's cell was the best equipped, led, and trained, for this operation she needed his capabilities.

"I know how all of you are interested in destroying this scourge, but there is a second, more important objective in the R&D offices. According to my sources, Morgan Industries is working for the Viceroy on something called Code R. What Code R is none of my sources are exactly sure of, but we do know it deals with biological warfare."

She cast another look over the gathering once more, gauging their reactions. They were just as she expected, the grim expressions a reflection of the serious aspects of what they were about to undertake. Good, that was what she needed.

"In order for this operation to succeed, I have ordered the Clarent cell to launch a diversionary raid on a trio of warehouses in Yokosuka Harbor in order to draw off most of the Knightpolice and have the military focus upon them. They are under orders to retreat as soon as their position becomes untenable. This will buy us enough time for this raid. For the purposes of fulfilling the objectives of this raid, we will be divided up into two units of thirty and a single unit of twenty and we will be deploying with Knightmares as support."

Deciding not to brook any further conversation she focused immediately upon a Britannian woman, "Ellers, you are in charge of Team One, your objective is the destruction of everything regarding Refrain. You will have four of the Knightmares."

"Team Two will be lead by myself and Rai using the rest of the Knightmares, as you can figure, we're Knightpolice hunters. Team Three will consist of the best shooters in this cell, commanded by Caliburn," she nodded to Caedron, who was dressed as 'War'.

"Why are you entrusting this operation to a complete random," a man asked.

"I'm quite a bit more than a complete random, Kanai," Caedron replied coolly; Kanai looked at him in shock and Kallen almost laughed.

"Who are you, then," another asked almost dismissively.

"I'm the man who wrote your training manual," was the smooth reply.

"Now that that has been answered," she decided to refocus everyone on the mission, "here's how this will proceed..."

0000000000000

"This is Team Three, infiltration successful."

"Team One and Two, that's our cue," Kallen declared, as she punched the throttle on her Knightmare, the Guren Nishiki, the crimson Knightmare charging forward out of the storm drain into Tokyo Harbor and proceeded up the storm wall with its Harkens.

The Guren was an acquisition she had made a year ago, well, acquisition might be too light of a term; she stole it from a JLF container ship in Yokosuka thanks to an anonymous tip-off. Since then kept it hidden for the last year for several reasons. First of which, that the plan didn't require its use.

But there was also the need to upgrade and customize it to her standards, which had required baiting its designer into her grasp. Not an easy fit, but it had succeeded eight months ago with Rakshata Chawla coming under her employ. Since then she had not only gotten the Guren updated to the latest standard, but also had opened an exchange with India, she supplied them with the latest Britannian schematics and tech, they provided her cells with material support, and Kyoto was none the wiser.

However, for this mission she had decided to only deploy with the barebones version of the Guren, both because it was sufficient for the job, but also to keep secret that there was more to the unit. Intel based upon false impressions was among the leading causes of death in battle and she intended to capitalize upon it.

Reaching the top of the wall ahead of the other Knightmares, a mix of Sutherlands, Burais, and Rai's Gekka Pre-Production Test Type (a legitimate acquisition this time) she immediately spotted the first of her prey as it wheeled itself around to face the sudden threat.

Too slow, she thought as she pressed the claw together into a spear, before proceeding to drive it though its Riot Shield and cockpit block in one swift motion. Ripping it out she keyed her com.

"Kusanagi, change in plans, take units three through six to the north concourse and provide additional coverage to Team Two."

"But Zero, you'll be-"

"It'll be fine, this Guren is more than enough for them."

"...Roger that."

She watched as Rai led off the rest of her team's Knightmare Frames in the direction of the first team. It was a calculated measure, since they were the most visible of attacks and the odds were they would focus on protecting their income. Still, what she said was right, there was no Knightmare capable of defeating the Guren in Area 11, so any Knightpolice that dared was a dead man.

Sure enough, two more challengers appeared, obviously being vectored in by the surveillance systems of the complex.

Her lip curling into a silent snarl as she swerved to engage the new targets, she swung the Guren low as they stopped to place their shields in front of them as they began firing their pistols at her.

_Can't use the shield_, she mentally chided herself as she quickly darted in between the rounds, the police machine pistols carried only thirty round magazines so she only had to wait for the opening in their reload time.

Jumping the Guren up like a martial artist, she then used the wall to their right to bounce off and kick the riot shield away from the now reloading Knightpolice, firing a Harken point-blank into the cockpit bloc, then in one motion, expanded her claw as she used the momentum of the jump to carry her to the left and the claw through the undefended legs of the other one. She then slammed on the brakes, feeling her vision redden from the violence of the maneuver drove the blood into her head.

Finishing the stop she finished the killing blow as she darted forward, raking the claw across the back as metal and flesh were rent asunder.

That was the one downside of the Guren's design. Instead of the pilot sitting upright in the cockpit, she was sprawled in a motorbike position. While she couldn't ignore her to be more agile thanks to the conformal shape, it meant that she felt the g-forces of each and every hard acceleration or deceleration. If she wasn't careful she could either greyout from the excessive positive gees or redout from the negative gees, even with the suit she was wearing. In essence, the Guren was the most agile Knightmare in existence, but it came at a dangerous price to the pilot if not wielded wisely.

"Zero, this is Clarent, datum is getting hot, requesting clearance for exfiltration."

She bit her lip as she moved further into the complex, Clarent was calling in earlier than she expected, which was problematic considering their progress.

"Clarent, this is Zero, sitrep."

"Zero, Clarent Actual, my scouts have spotted Gloucesters inbound on our position. They're Purists."

Now she could see why Clarent was contacting her. Everyone in Area 11 knew the Purists under Kewell Soresi, they knew enough about them to give them a wide berth. But for them, the Purists were one of the most powerful Knightmare units in the Settlement and they were merciless to top it off. She had several eyewitness accounts of their brutality upon Japanese.

But this was the first time they had become involved in her operations.

Which means Clovis is getting nervous...

"Hold one Clarent Actual."

Switching frequencies, she started talking again.

"Caliburn, Zero. You heard Clarent..."

"Yes. I need two more minutes, purge is almost complete."

"Right."

Switching back, she took a moment to gather herself, Caedron knew what he was talking about.

"Clarent Actual, I need two more minutes, can you give it to me?"

"I can give you two if you authorize me for Case Delta."

She hesitated. Case Delta was authorization to use weapons that were previously not shown before by the Noppera-bō, in this case, the brand-new Britannian-made Trident Anti-Knightmare missile systems. She had wanted to keep them as a rainy day weapon for the time being, but if Clarent was requesting authorization.

"Do it. Give me two minutes and get out of there, just make sure you take a few Purists down with them."

"Roger. Clarent Actual, out."

This wasn't going exactly to plan, but then again, no plan survives contact with the enemy, she thought as brought herself to a stop and conferred with the map of the complex and where she estimated where the rest of the cell was located before radioing.

"Kusanagi, we have two minutes, take the gloves off for Team One, I want everything remotely affiliated with Refrain gone in one, Clarent is running into problems."

"Roger," was the only reply from Rai, as she knew it would be. Sometimes she found herself wondering exactly where Rai got his skills, but even more than that, how he could become emotionally detached at will, she had seen it several times while observing his cell's missions, it just seemed that there was more to Rai than maybe even he knew.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as she screeched to a stop, her vision fading into red as a Knightpolice drove a knife where she would have been if she hadn't stopped on that in that instant.

_Dammit Kallen, focus, you can't lower your guard like that!_

She snarled as the Knightpolice's landspinners screeched as it suddenly accelerated towards her and to the left, deliberately avoiding her right side and the corresponding claw. Obviously this Knightpolice was cut from a better cloth as he was more cautious but smarter; he had obviously decided that using a riot shield was not going to work, instead focusing on the speed of the Glasgow.

Unfortunately, she didn't have any ranged weapons other than her Harkens, which had been done in order to maintain the illusion of the Guren's simplicity, if that pilot realized that she was at a disadvantage. It didn't matter if she had the better acceleration or agility, by him keeping his distance, every time she tried to charge all he had to do was change his vectors and as long as he was moving she couldn't get close enough for her strike.

_This guy is definitely a lot better than any Knightpolice…_

He didn't allow her to try and create a strategy, as he fired off his machine pistol, causing her to swerve, only for warnings to flash; her eyes quickly acquired a streaking object aimed straight at her.

Toggling her control, she watched as the Radiation Shield snapped up, suspending the knife in midair before it was atomized. That glimpse caused her to stop in her tracks as she looked warily at the Knightpolice that had also stopped.

"Well, I didn't expect that," a cheery voice sounded on the all-bands chatter, "for a terrorist you're pretty good for a Knightmare pilot, even if you are piloting a buffed up Gekka."

_Now's not the time to talk Kallen, there can't be any witnesses to the Guren especially now that I've shown its shield, if word gets back to Britannia…_

Dumping as much power as she could into the landspinners she darted forward, only for the Knightpolice Glasgow, no, now her eyes saw it, it wasn't a Glasgow, it was only made to look like one, it was done differently…_A Gloucester? _Began peeling away from her, pulling out its second pistol and spraying it at her while reloading the other in its holster, pulling out the other combat knife into a back-handed hold as the reload was done.

That complicated things, if this was only a Gloucester mocked up to look like a Knightpolice, then she was fighting a different enemy altogether with possible tricks to it that she wasn't aware of.

"It looks like my Prince was right when he predicted that you were going to hit Morgan," the other pilot continued, as "of course, him having me go undercover as one of these dirtbag cops isn't exactly my thing. But I guess it works out when I actually get a challenge."

Gritting her teeth, she fired off one of her Harkens, only for it to get intercepted by his own Slash Harkens, the Gloucester suddenly firing off its anti-infantry gun at her, peppering the Guren's Radiation Shield that she snapped up.

"Sadly, my forte isn't close range combat like this, especially with this unit. If only they allowed me to have the Bradford this could be a fair fight."

_Bradford?!_ She thought as she darted towards the Gloucester, claw outstretched as the Gloucester maddeningly avoided it, causing her to flip the Guren over as its Slash Harkens lanced towards where she had just been. _There's only one person who's piloting the Bradford right now._

"Gino Weinberg, Knight of Three," she found herself speaking calmly now over the radio.

"Ahhh, so you know me. Then you must be Zero. My, I didn't take you for one of those lead-from-the-front kind of guys-WHOA."

Rai had crashed through the warehouse behind Gino, causing him to suddenly dart to the side was Rai's claw caught only air.

"Zero, all teams are RTB, Caliburn sent me."

"Thank you, Kusanagi," she spoke, keeping the relief from her voice, now with the two of them, there was no way this Knight of the Round would be able to stop them-

_But if we kill him here, that will cause Britannia to send in someone…No, we have to kill him, if he returns with information on this-_

"Two-on-one isn't exactly fair Zero," Gino spoke up, "but then again, my job here is complete, since this place is toast I'm no longer needed, so until we meet again."

Suddenly the Gloucester's back flared as the cockpit bloc launched out of the Knightmare and towards Tokyo Bay, quickly out of range for her or Rai to do anything.

_Dammit, _she thought as she slammed her fist against the sidescreen in a bout of fury. She had failed in her own objectives, of course, it wasn't her fault that there was a Knight of the Round here, if she had been aware of it she would have planned accordingly, but that was no excuse.

"Zero, we need to go," Rai's clinical voice roused her from her anger.

"Right," she responded, following Rai as he led her off, "any casualties?"

Rai's laugh caused her to become confused.

"Just one, if you could call getting shot in the butt a casualty."

0000000000000

Kallen broke a smile as she settled in to the luxurious chair that was the seating for the nobility class for the airliner she had been booked on for the trip to Pendragon.

Of course, anything to take her mind off the fact that she was heading into the den of vipers was best for her own sanity.

Caedron unfortunately was stuck back in Business Class, former Regent or not, no one not of noble blood was allowed in this class.

Which meant luckily she was alone in it for this trip and could relax, which she was going to do exactly that as she settled and closed her eyes.

"Well hello beautiful."

Normally, she would have ignored a catcall such as this, but instinct won out as she recognized the voice, her eyes snapping open and focusing on the source.

He was about what she had expected of the voice, late teens, handsome, probably thought of himself as some dashing lady's man. If not for last night, she would have probably written it off as just that.

"Usually there's nothing but boring old men here, what a refreshing change to have a fine and beautiful lady such as you grace this bastion. I'm Gino."

She looked at the proffered hand before taking it, "Kallen."

He then leaned down to kiss the top of the hand, causing her to bristle, but waited until he had released it to pull it back; she knew decorum well enough, even if this display disgusted her.

"You must be Countess Stadtfeld then, it is doubly an honor," he replied with a wider smile, "the magazines weren't lying when they said your beauty rivals that of the rising sun."

It still took a lot of effort to remember that this was a Knight of the Round, but not only a Knight of the Round, but THE Knight of the Round that fought her last night. If this oddball could cause her such problems, what did that say about a more serious Knight?

"Is there anything you need, Gino," she decided to ask tersely, she really didn't want to be dealing with him right now, "because if not, I would like to get some sleep so I don't end up sleepwalking through Pendragon, if you don't mind."

"Oh no," Gino replied, waving her off, "go on ahead. I think you're more beautiful when you are asleep….oookay, that sounded creepy."

"No, I get what you mean," she replied, she just wanted to kill this entire conversation as quickly as possible, "thank you for being so understanding."

She then leaned back and closed her eyes, showing the conversation had ended.

"Way to go Gino," she could hear him muttering to himself as he stepped away, "creeping out the beautiful noble, just what you need. Nonette is not going to let me live this down if she catches wind of this."

0000000000000

This was the largest waste of time in her life, she thought as she surveyed the ballroom floor. And it was all Caedron's fault!

So now here she was all gussied up for a ball celebrating Prince Lelouch vi Britannia's victory in the former Ukraine instead of being on their way back to Japan so they could plan the next phase of operations or, hell, even discuss what had happened last night. All because Caedron wanted her to balance everything with a normal life.

The music lulled, which meant that only one thing would happen next...

"Excuse me, Madame; may I have the honor of the next dance?"

She didn't even glance at the source of the request, it really didn't matter, and there was no way in hell that she was going to dance.

"No, you may not," she replied dismissively and that was that, she didn't even need to look to know in the clash of wills she had won. The suitor was deflated and had stepped away.

A low chuckle sounded in her ear, causing her to look up to the upper level of the ballroom, where the various dining tables of the ballroom were located, leaning against the railing where her table was situated was Caedron.

Normally it would be impossible for her to hear him, but they were both equipped with a subvocalized communications set, allowing silent communication between the two. It was also one of the products sold to the Britannian via the Stadtfeld Consortium.

_That was the eighteenth poor chap you turned down_, Caedron's voice chastised her in the small ear receiver, _I didn't teach you dancing just for you to not use it.  
_  
She snatched a champagne flute from a passing server so she could angrily down it. She wasn't normally one to angrily drink, but this was becoming quite

_I didn't want to be here to begin with! This is a pointless exercise and you know it!_

She could feel the sigh from where she was. Of course, the subvocalization gear could not portray it effectively, but she knew that sometimes, especially those times when he was trying to teach her something, he could be so easily disappointed in her. Like a misbehaving child. And like a child that had been chastised, she could feel her cheeks color in embarrassment.

_Kallen, you are officially now a Countess, which means you have new responsibilities. As much as I know you hate it, you have to peacock yourself like this, because that is Britannian society itself. If you don't then people will become suspicious. But more than that, these balls are in many ways how Britannia has many of the deals and relationships are made, not the meeting room._

_I still don't see any point of this._

_Did you know that the successful invasion of Japan began as a conversation between the Duke of New Haven and the Earl of Lancaster in this very ballroom?_

This news set her jaw on edge as her narrowed, even to this day it could cause her such a reaction, and Caedron knew this, but just because he knew didn't mean it wasn't reasonable to use it as a teaching point, even she knew it in a detached way.

_Balls are intelligence goldmines Kallen, all it takes is the right mindset and the keenest of hearing and you can glean information that could give you an advantage second to none. The nobility believe that the ballrooms are perfect for the wheeling and dealing that needs to be done outside of boardrooms, if you don't realize that and take advantage of it, then you are limiting yourself, but also denying yourself possible allies in the long run._

_What do you mean?_

_If I told you then you wouldn't learn. Think of it as homework._

The main door to the ballroom opened as the sergeant-at-arms bellowed.

"Announcing Prince-General Lelouch vi Britannia, eighth heir to the Royal Britannian Imperial throne."

0000000000000

Lelouch was in a surly mood as he stood there on at the top of the stairs looking down on the gathering of nobles and military officers as they applauded him. Almost immediately after the fall of Kiev he had been recalled. He wasn't given any time to gather his forces or oversee the transition, he was told to pack up his Knights and jump on a military flight back to Pendragon.

He had immediately known what was going on as soon as he had receives the orders; he hadn't worked his way up as an heir by being politically blind. The Ukraine was being handed to the EuroBritannians, exactly what shouldn't be done.

Yet even the recall hadn't brought respite, not even before he had landed, he was brought before the Emperor, medaled, promoted, then carted off to get ready for this 'celebration of his victory'. Honestly, if his father passed gas, these decrepit old farts would throw a ball just so they could have one.

But throughout it all, after several months away from her, he had yet to actually see Nunnally, and that in itself was the largest cause of his irritated mood even as he put up his well-maintained facade as he gave a quick 'thank you' before walking down the stairs, quietly greeting the well-wishers even as the music recommenced.

Jeremiah dutifully followed him down the stairs, though while Lelouch had to plaster a façade on, he didn't have to, so his grave expression as he scanned the crowd was enough to whittle down the crowd, thankfully for Lelouch.

As the group finished dispersing, Lelouch let out a light sigh even as he scanned over the ballroom; there was not a single part of him that wanted to remain in this affront to any sane sensibilities.

"My Prince?"

Lelouch shook his head, Jeremiah immediately getting the message and slowly detached himself from his Prince's side, intent on getting a drink to try and wash away the bitter taste in his own mouth.

"Lelouch," Prince Schneizel el Britannia, his half-brother and Prime Minister of Britannia, flagged his attention as his violet orbs narrowed in response to his half-brother while he motioned for him to follow him as they walked further away.

"What is going on Schneizel," Lelouch asked irritably once they were out of direct hearing, "the Emperor recalls before I can even go into Kiev. Next thing I hear is that he has decided on giving Ukraine to the EuroBrits."

Schneizel gave a sigh before shaking his head, "I talked to the Emperor about it, but he was adamant upon giving the EuroBritannians, Ukraine even with my observations on what will happen to it. When I asked him why, he merely said that it is what good neighbors do."

Lelouch's hands curled into fists, but before he could say anything more Schneizel interrupted him.

"I know, I know, Lelouch, but there wasn't anything I could do. We both know giving these pretenders anything will only worsen the situation when we are forced to fight them, but my hands are tied. All we can hope for is that the Ukraine will cause them enough problems to slow them down for the time being."

Lelouch nodded. Schneizel and he had an arrangement between them, for the time being they were allies of convenience and to any observer out there, they were the most powerful bloc in the run for the throne. Though it was an agreement that would only last until they were the last men standing, it was beneficial for the both of them, with Lelouch's military prowess and contacts and Schneizel's political and diplomatic capabilities.

"Thank you," he said, and he honestly meant it, one of the few trusted 'allies' he had, even if they were of convenience, Schneizel did at times step out of his comfort zone for him, the entire EuroBritannian issue was one of those.

"It's no problem," Schneizel sniffed, "frankly I'm finding it increasingly burdensome trying to run the ship of state with Father becoming involved with many of the major diplomatic decisions."

_Ahhh, so that was what it was, _Lelouch thought, Schneizel was incredibly protective of the power and turf he controlled, even if it was the Emperor that was starting to invade it, Schneizel was willing to put up a fight if it benefitted himself.

"Well then," Schneizel said, "I have a meeting with the European ambassador in about an hour and frankly, these parties are becoming increasingly droll even for myself. Though, a warning Lelouch, Cornelia is becoming irritated with how you've been ignoring Euphemia, you might want to head it off and smooth those feathers before it gets any worse."

"I'll remember that," Lelouch replied, knowing what a headache that would be if Cornelia did something…rash, especially when it came to her sister, rash might be too light of a term.

Schneizel nodded one more time before walking away, leaving Lelouch to look back over the ballroom. _Now where was Clovis?_

0000000000000

"Caedron? Caedron Harrington?"

Taking his eyes off of Kallen who still had not done anything he had asked her to do; he turned to face the person asking for him. It took a moment to recognize who was standing there.

"Margrave Gottwald," he said, extending a hand, "it has been awhile."

"Ten years," the turquoise-haired Knight of Honor responded, taking the hand.

"My, how time flies. I remember when I nearly failed you in my classes at the Colchester Institute. I'm glad to see you got rid of your Purist tendencies."

"Don't remind me," Jeremiah responded with a terse nod, accepting how in his youth he was quite misguided in his beliefs, "I seem to remember a certain teacher beating into my head that I needed to know what the hell I was talking about if I wanted make a valid argument. Imagine my frustration when I found out that said teacher used some clout to get my assigned to guarding the Empress."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Pity what happened to her."

Jeremiah could only nod in agreement, "I heard you retired your commission after Japan."

The elder soldier shrugged, "A war horse has to know when he's getting a bit long in the tooth."

"Was it that, or was it because of the Stadtfeld incident?"

This caused the elder to frown himself, "No comment."

"Still, you've taken good care of her," Jeremiah observed as he looked down upon the ballroom floor, "I take it from her presence now; she's been given her title?"

"Yes, she is now officially a Countess. She's not officially in charge of the Consortium yet, but as soon as she graduates I will be stepping down as the CEO of it."

"I think my Prince would be interested in that information. I know he has been peeking in on your company since you acquired the Ashfords' five years ago, he has been keen for contracting a company to work on some of his projects."

"I think I can speak for the Countess by saying we would be honored if the Prince invested in us."

But Jeremiah did not respond instead staring at him for a few moments, causing Caedron to turn and look.

"What's wrong?"

"Your nose."

Reaching up, he placed his finger beneath his nose and brought it away.

It came back with blood smeared on it.

0000000000000

"Lelouch," Clovis la Britannia enveloped his younger half-brother in a hug as Lelouch internally grit his teeth. He honestly disliked how outgoing his half-brother could be, it was completely not royal-like to do something like this, but really, if it wasn't for his active interest in women, Lelouch could have sworn up and down that he was gay, "it's good to see you unharmed."

"Clovis," he responded as diplomatically as possible, "how's Area 11 treating you?"

"Oh you know, it is going quite well," he responded, "a few hiccups here or there, but it's a beautiful country, you should bring Nunnally to Tokyo sometimes I think she would like it," stopping for a moment he grabbed a flute of champagne and took a sip of it.

"I might take you up on that offer. Though, I do have some concerns. Specifically, Zero."

Clovis nearly dropped the flute as he began choking upon the alcohol.

"What," he asked as he tried to regain his breath, "who?"

"Clovis, your methods of suppressing information are good for the civilian levels of the Empire, but do you really think you have a snowball's chance in hell of hiding this from me, let alone Schneizel or the OSI," Lelouch could only shake his head, "you can be a fool, my dear brother, but you aren't that much of a fool."

"Zero is no problem," Clovis finally replied, "Kewell and Bartley have both assured me that he will be dealt with soon enough."

_They obviously have no idea what they are dealing with, _Lelouch thought bitterly, _you can't kill a movement like this militarily, you will only drive people into their lot the more you crack down. You're going to play right into his hands._

"If you say so," Lelouch replied, "but if this keeps escalating, you will have a lot to worry about Clovis, I may be willing to give you the rope to hang yourself, but I doubt the Emperor or Schneizel would be so willing if this Zero causes a large enough bang."

"Like I said," Clovis reiterated to his younger brother, though there was a small waver in his tone, as if he wasn't so sure anymore, "the problem will be dealt with."

"Well, if you need some help, don't hesitate to ask," he internally smiled, knowing the suggestion would be taken right to heart, when Zero started really causing Clovis to sweat, he would immediately turn to him, since he had made the offer.

"I'm glad you're looking out for me," the older prince responded, looking around, even while Lelouch fought back a snort, "not many siblings around here would do that."

_Oh if you only knew Clovis¸ _he thought darkly, his eyes scanning the crowd before stopping on a figure in dressed in a strapless red dress that matched her hair. He didn't know exactly what attracted himself to her like a moth to the flame, but for some reason he felt something.

Clovis must have seen his gaze, because he began talking coyly to him. Great, his brother was trying to play matchmaker.

"That's Countess Stadtfeld from Area 11. You see something interesting?"

"I don't know," he admitted, his eyes looking her up and down as she brushed off another noble that requested her dance with a firm shake of the head.

"According to my sources, she is quite the feisty lady. Would you like your measurements?"

"Why would you have her measurements?"

"5'8", 36-24-36…the perfect woman. And honestly Lelouch, you're talking to me, the connoisseur of fine ladies, it would be a sin for me not to know. Doubly so for such an aesthetically pleasing sight, I would just love to catch her spirit in a painting," he gushed.

"Forget I asked," he said with a scowl, why did Clovis have to be a younger more cheery version of the Emperor?

Deciding that maybe throwing himself to the fire with the Countess may be a better option than staying with his half-brother he quickly made a decision.

0000000000000

That was the twenty-first she made a mental note as she dismissed yet another potential suitor, why did men continue to persist when she just wasn't interested. Instead she was quietly listening in on a conversation between two nobles concerning a new Knightmare Frame design that was being developed at Astolat, they sounded concerned that it might impose upon their own plans.

Caedron had been right, she mused, these places could be a good source of information. Just in the last short time she had gleaned several instances of information she would need to look up on.

"May I humbly request a dance, My Lady," a smooth voice asked her.

Immediately upon reflex she firmly shook her head, it was just another noble and she wanted to hear this conversation.

_Kallen_, Caedron was back on her earbud, causing her to break her concentration as she looked to the noble who had now leaned in closer to her, no, it wasn't a noble, it was worse, much worse.

"You know, eavesdropping is frowned upon in these parts," Lelouch vi Britannia stated in a low tone, his eyes dancing with a bit of amusement, "I wonder what Countess Severa and Baron Yarne would think about a competitor listening in on their conversation."

He began to turn around before stopping and turning back.

"Of course, such things might be forgotten and suitably rewarded in the future, if you would humble me with a dance."

She had been trapped she thought with a moment of panic, trapped by a man who was a head of the hydra that was her enemy. She couldn't retreat, to show her back would be to do everything she swore never to do, not to mention the scandal would haunt her. But if she accepted it, she would be dancing with the very devil. An apt analogy, when she thought of it, considering the epithet whispered about him.

There was no escape; she had only one choice, she had to play to this man's game. She gave a small nod of acknowledgment.

"Splendid," Lelouch said, just as the music ended, he held out a hand and bowed himself a bit.

"May I take this dance," his eyes stared levelly at hers in unsaid challenge.

"Certainly," she said as sweetly as possible, appearances must be made, but the challenge was there in her grip of his hand.

Little did they know that this dance was only the beginning.

* * *

A/N: My apologies for the time delay, the last two weeks have been exceptionally hectic with my father having double heart bypass and myself knocked down with the flu. I have also probably spiked my final grade here by putting this ahead of my final paper, but I felt that I needed to get this out to you guys who have been waiting in the wings for an update.

I could launch into the entire clichéd enemies meet for the first time trope, but really, I would just be insulting you.

For those of your curious, yes Lelouch has gone up in the rankings for heir simply because I figured that Lelouch would be more of a schemer since he is at Britannia, but also I think with his current alliance with Schneizel they would be willing to deal with some competitors in the shadows.

As far as the Guren battle goes, I know it might seem controversial, but it is wise to bear in mind that the Guren was operating a "barebones" configuration, which meant that really it had no ranged weapons and its overall capabilities were dialed back a bit in order to maintain the illusion that Zero doesn't have capable Knightmares, if you notice from what Gino said, he took it only as a buffed up Gekka and nothing more, which continues the illusion. And to be honest, this was Kallen's first combat mission with the Guren, even with its advantages on the Gloucester Gino was using, Gino had the overall experience advantage to prevent Kallen from being able to land a killing blow but also cause her issues. So hopefully that explains a lot.

Anyways, thank you for your patience, leave your thoughts in the review and I look forward to the next time.


	4. Escalation

**Chapter 3**

_**Escalation**_

_**Headed for Redder Pastures  
**_  
_Fresh off his victory in the former Ukraine, Prince-General Lelouch vi Britannia traded in the tools of war for a lover's ballroom dance with Countess Kallen Stadtfeld last night._

_While there has been no comment by the Imperial Press Office, according to Britannian Sun sources, the relationship between the Prince and Countess has been kept low-key until the Countess officially received her title yesterday, with the Prince arriving to celebrate with her last night._

_For our readers, Countess Stadtfeld is the future CEO of the Stadtfeld Consortium, the fastest-growing defense company in the Empire. It is currently headquartered in Area 11 where the Countess currently resides._

_Talk about loving the military-industrial complex._

_0000000000000_

The one downside of long flights was always the jetlag, Lelouch thought as he stalked the hallways of the Aries Villa. Even with the sleep on the flight his biological clock was still out of whack, combined from the lack of sleep during the Ukraine campaign; he was left completely bereft of the ability to fall asleep at his own discretion.

And now, as the sun began to peek over the horizon, he was deprived of the ability to rest again. So now he was on his way to the kitchen to find something to give him an edge to function.

Even though the Aries Villa was an imperial palace meant to have all of the luxuries and staff befitting his family, since the assassination of his mother he had cut down the staff to the minimum to operate the grounds. Of course, he had increased the amount of trained security personnel, all completely loyal to him, but the fact remained, Lelouch didn't keep servants because he preferred to do things himself. Which was why he was now in the kitchen hunting for ingredients for tea.

"Master Lelouch."

"Good morning Allison."

Finding what he needed he turned around to face the woman the name belonged to.

Of course, then again, her name wasn't Allison. But in a racially overcharged society like Britannia it wouldn't be wise to have an Eleven maid. That was why Sayoko Shinozaki was legally known as Allison Newell. It was also why she was currently wearing a mask that presented her as a blond-haired and blue-eyed racial Britannian.

The Ashfords had given her as a gift three years ago just after an assassination attempt by Carine ne Britannia that had almost claimed both his and Nunnally's lives. So when Sayoko had arrived while he was recovering, he put her to the test. Kill Carine ne Britannia without anyone able to track it back to him. It had only taken her a day, but Carine being discovered drowned in her pool was enough for Lelouch to accept her for what she was.

Now, she was Nunnally's caretaker and guardian, wherever his sister went, Sayoko followed, though as Allison.

"How is Nunnally doing," he asked as he walked over to the stove to heat up some tea.

"She is fine, My Lord. Happy that you are back."

"I see," Lelouch replied, "have there been any problems while I was gone?"

She gave a nod, "none that I couldn't handle, Your Highness."

That was good, it was the very reason he had kept her around. Since the Carine attempt the rest of his siblings had kept skulking in the shadows and any major threat now really came from a handful of loose cannon nobles and Purists. All who had quietly met 'accidents' since.

Needless to say, he felt a lot safer when Sayoko was at Nunnally's side, and to back up her innate killing skills, she seemed to be adept at handling many of the roles necessary for Nunnally.

The screech of from the tea kettle snapped his attention from her for a moment as he turned to take it off the burner, preparing a mug for himself, satisfied with his progress he stopped for a moment.

"And where is Jeremiah?"

He didn't need to even turn around to know that Sayoko was blushing. It was a horribly kept secret the two had, what had started off as a professional relationship at first had morphed into something completely unprofessional. Though what could he say if they both didn't let it interfere with their work, then it wasn't his business, and if anything, it had improved since their liaison.

"He left about an hour ago to deal with an issue in Pendragon. He told me to tell you when you awaken that he will be back as soon as he could."

"Did he say exactly what it was?"

"No."

Then it was something that Jeremiah figured he could handle with his Prince's input. It was always a welcome relief when he knew Jeremiah could handle the minutiae and if Jeremiah wasn't talking about it then that was that.

"I'll be in the study," he finally said, taking a second mug and the kettle, "would you kindly invite Cornelia and Euphemia to lunch for me."

"As you wish, Master Lelouch. What about Nunnally?"

"Just let her sleep in, I have a feeling she will need her energy for lunch with our sisters."

Nodding, she silently slipped away as he took the tray and headed to the study.

After his Mother's assassination he had completely remodeled the Villa to his specifications. Everything had been redone in a more centralized design with ease of access to the critical parts of the Villa, but also the more significant of jobs was the complete destruction of the room where his mother and Nunnally had been shot. Since that day he'd been unable to enter that room, so he had it redone to be several rooms, the most important of which was his study.

Opening the door to it, he stepped in to spy a pair of boots in the air on the desk, a tabloid shielding his face from immediate identification, though Lelouch didn't need to see his face. What added to his drawn attention was the front page facing him, showing himself from last night leaning Kallen into a dip.

Eyes narrowing he walked to the desk and swept the man's feet of the desk.

"How many times have I told you to keep your feet off the furniture, Gino?"

The blond Knight of Round smirked at the Prince's pained expression as he put his feet right back up.

"Enough times. I'm not changing."

Sighing Lelouch placed the tray down as he eyed the tabloid cover.

"Fresh off his victory in the former Ukraine, Prince-General Lelouch traded in the tools of war for a lover's ballroom dance with Countess Kallen Stadtfeld last night. While there has been no comment by the Imperial Press Office, according to Britannian Sun sources, the relationship between the Prince and Countess has been kept low-key until the Countess officially received her title yesterday, with the Prince arriving to celebrate with her last night."

Placing down the tabloid he looked to Lelouch as he poured him a tea.

"So when were you going to tell me you were involved with a Countess?"

Finished providing tea for Gino he sat down to the side, eyeing the feet again, this time Gino taking them down himself.

"Whatever are you talking about," Lelouch replied innocently after taking a sip of tea, "I thought you knew better than to read trash."

"Then what was this," he demanded, holding the tabloid to Lelouch's face and allowing him a full-on look at it.

_I have to admit, whoever took the picture is good_, he thought, admiring the look on Kallen's face as she was dipped over.

"Amusement."

"Your definition of amusement needs tweaking, Lelouch. Being on the radar of tabloid magazines is never an amusing experience."

"And? Why should I be concerned with dumpster-diving offal? If I was worried about every insect skittering in my shadow I would never leave my bed."

"And what about the Countess," it was a legitimate question concerning the target that seemed to hover over him in Britannian politics, anyone seen as a possible extension of his power could be chosen as a target.

"If anyone takes a rag seriously then they deserve the fate that befalls them. As for the Countess herself? She's a military contractor in Area 11, if she doesn't have protection enough then that is her issue."

Gino sighed, recognizing the tone of finality. He had known the Prince long enough to know his moods and attitudes to know that he had already reasoned out everything.

Their relationship dated back four years ago when Gino had fallen in love with Sachiko, a maid in his house. Of course, when his parents found out she had been thrown out and he had been told to act his title. It had been Lelouch that had saved her from the fate on the street, hiring her on at the Aries Villa. He hadn't cared about the scandal and her lineage at all, what he had cared for was that she was exceptionally skilled at the job.

Since then he had developed a friendship with the Demon Prince, and while the relationship with Sachiko petered out a couple years ago, they were still friends.

If anyone could claim to be Lelouch's best friend, it would be him. From that time to his Knighting by Lelouch to his acceptance into the Knights of the Round for his actions as part of the Knights of Idris in the Area 18 campaign they had been nearly inseparable. Yet there were times when he didn't understand Lelouch: this was one of them. And there was no possibility for it to be explained unless Lelouch deigned it to be.

Deciding to change subjects he sipped his own tea, noting that, once again, Lelouch had somehow improved the taste and blend of the tea.

"So you were right about Morgan Industries," Gino stated, fishing a datastick and holding it up for Lelouch, "only you were wrong about Zero."

Arching an eyebrow, he took the datastick out of Gino's hand and walked towards a bookshelf.

"Continue."

"Zero took to the battlefield at Morgan."

"I expected him to do that soon," Lelouch replied with a shrug as he came back with a book, opening it to reveal a dataslate and slid in the stick, "what use is a leader if he doesn't lead from the front."

"No, he was piloting a Knightmare."

Blinking a moment, he stared at Gino, who wore a smile on his face, obviously seeing that he had surprised his friend.

"That's...unexpected."

"I was surprised myself, maybe more because I didn't expect Zero to be a high-level devicer."

_A high-level devicer and a probable top-tier strategist, Clovis has no chance_, Lelouch thought even as he changed every projection he had for Area 11 over the next few months, with each projection becoming increasingly worse as he updated it.

"So, how good are they," he finally asked, having a sneaking feeling he wasn't going to like it.

Gino motioned for the dataslate, which Lelouch handed to him. Powering it up, he brought up a map of the Morgan Industries campus before pointing over the map guiding Lelouch through it.

"It was a three-pronged attack. The first prong entered in the western campus through the auxiliary loading docks of the main concourse, it was an infiltration unit that wiped out the surveillance systems and took R&D department. The second prong was a frontal attack upon the northern gate; this was the main force and diversion to keep focus off the infiltration unit. This then drew in the Knightpolice and allowed for the third prong, which came out of the storm drains to attack their flank."

_That's…exactly what I would have done_; Lelouch thought begrudgingly, it wasn't often that he got to see someone actually do something that he would do. Yet to see someone who would more than likely be his enemy to show skills.

_Be careful what I wish for indeed, Jeremiah_, he thought with a smile.

"What about their training?"

"I won't ever claim to be an expert on infantry tactics, but what I could get from surveillance, they're good. Britannian good. I'd bounce it off an expert just to make sure, but they seemed like professionals. Whoever, if it isn't Zero, has been training them isn't your run-of-the-mill revolutionary; he knows what he's doing. As for Zero himself..."

He started tapping the screen a few times to bring up a gun camera view of a red Knightmare, tapping a button to cause the battle between himself and Zero play out and let Lelouch watch it.

_Yeah, Gino is right_, Lelouch thought watching, _a little rough at the edges but it has to be from a lack of operational experience_. He wasn't exactly a slouch in Knightmare combat himself, but he could tell he was easily outclassed.

Eyes narrowing, he pushed the screen causing it to stop, showing a shot of the red Knightmare as it was charging the gun camera, claw outstretched.

"You see it too, don't you?"

Lelouch could only nod as his finger traced the golden protrusion above and behind the head unit.

He had thought of it as a heavily customized Gekka, but now he wasn't so sure.

"At first, I thought it was a Gekka until I started looking closer, the cockpit is longer and more flat, like the pilot is lying prone. The Gekka's cockpit is more vertical for a sitting position. What's more is the overall performance specs are above the Gekka's level, and then there is that weird shield system. I think it might be a new model."

_Which fits with Harrington's report, _Lelouch thought; _if that Knightmare is the same as the one that the JLF was counting on to help turn the tide in Area 11, why does it seem so underarmed? Outside of that odd shield system, it only has a pair of irregularly placed Slash Harkens and that claw. No ranged weapons. That makes no sense at all; defense doesn't get you victories in a Knightmare. Unless…_

He smirked, _oh that is clever. If that unit is the real deal, you're deliberately hiding what it is truly equipped with and capable of. I bet you didn't want to show that shield system and if you did, you planned to kill any who witnessed it. Gino was the one wrinkle to that plan._

Tapping the slate again, he watched the rest of the battle play out, including the entrance of a blue Knightmare that was definitely a Gekka that had a claw like the red Knightmare. It then ended with a camera view of Gino's ejection as he flew through the air towards Tokyo Bay, terminating as it splashed down.

"So," Gino said, staring expectantly at Lelouch as the Prince leaned back and retrieved his tea, "what do you think?"

"About what," Lelouch asked, finishing his tea and reaching to refill it.

"Zero. His organization. Everything."

"On or off the record."

"Lelouch."

This caused a mischievous smile to plaster his face, knowing he was annoying his otherwise overly effervescent friend.

"On the record? I'd say that this is another one of those pathetic attempts by the Elevens to overthrow our might. Off the record, I think my brother is well and truly fucked. But of course, that's off the record."

"You're scheming something."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"I've known you long enough to recognize that expression and that tone, Lelouch. You're planning something, and you really don't want anyone to know about it.'

"Oh, I think it's a foregone conclusion that everyone knows what I think," he replied dismissively, waving his hand, "after all, I am the Demon Prince. According to the really BAD tabloids I bathe in the blood of virgin Numbers when I'm not busy scheming to off a sibling or two for my rise to the throne."

Gino frowned, recognizing the bitterness in Lelouch's tone, even if it wasn't readily apparent. In spite of the mask that he always seemed to put up, there were times when that mask had cracks underneath it and in spite of the persona of being a teen who was considered by many to be more merciless than Cornelia; he did take to heart some of the insinuations.

"Bah. I doubt the Emperor is going to send me to another war front for the time being, so I'm trying to keep myself busy," Lelouch admitted, "Zero seems like an interesting project. If he's as good as I think he is, I have no doubt Clovis will be calling for my help, and when he eventually gets in the way, the Emperor will just put me in complete charge of Area 11."

Shrugging, he tapped the screen, bringing up a picture of Zero's mask staring at him.

"Besides, I think running an Area would be a good change of pace," he admitted, "God knows Nunnally and I need to get out and live life a bit."

0000000000000

Kallen stepped into the main cabin of her private jet drying her wet hair, dressed in a robe. Fighting the pangs of exhaustion by resisting a yawn, she sat down in large chair and glanced over at Caedron who was reading a book before settling further into the spacious chair.

After last night's change in plans, Caedron had recalled the company jet to ferry them back to Japan. She really didn't want to deal with any more looks after last night's debacle.

She felt a new flush of anger at the memory of the dance that had ended up with her bent backwards, a member of the family who, while unaware of it, was her sworn enemy. She could still remember the look of amusement on his face as she had been incensed by the impropriety of such an intimate dance move with her.

There were several reasons since she had come to the "proper" Britannian age where she could bear children that she had cultivated an image as an ice queen, the first had been the fact that she was disgusted with the practice that Britannia still subscribed to in which as soon as girls were of a certain maturity, they could be traded off like property, but the second and more important factor, had been the fact that a relationship would be counterproductive from her goal. There was no logical way she could juggle being Zero AND having any type of relationship, even if she wanted one, Caedron had taught her enough that the probability of a secret being blown was proportional to the square of the number of people who're in on it, and she would be hard-pressed to prevent him from discovering it. It would be the height of idiocy to pursue anything like that.

Yet what had happened last night. Hell, she didn't even know, she was still too pissed off about it to really get her head screwed on straight. All she knew was that he knew it was all an act. She didn't know HOW he knew it, but she could see it in those analytical violet eyes, the gears that were turning as they sampled her reactions, poor as they were for her. She couldn't restrain the irritation with herself the fact that she had actually, deep down, enjoyed the attention. The fact that that Prince had the tenacity to TAKE instead of merely asking. Well, let it never be said that she wasn't one for aggressive behavior, she was the textbook example of passive-aggressive, but hers was an act. She wasn't sure what his was, even as she tried to get a read on him.

Everything about him lent to the fact that she now knew that Lelouch vi Britannia was not be trifled with. So why the hell did that make the idea of being in his orbit…exciting?

"Ugh," she muttered with a sigh, shaking her head, only for it to snap up to the sound of Caedron chuckling.

"And what's so funny, old man?"

"You," he replied, never taking his eyes off the book, "finally met a guy who actually interests you."

"Interests me? Really," she scoffed, "you actually think that I'm interested in the Demon Prince? The son of the Emperor of Britannia? Really?!"

"Denial is the first step to acceptance."

"It's also the ghetto lingo for a shitty scum-riddled river in Area 18," she retorted a bit too angrily, causing Caedron to arch an eyebrow, "I'm pissed off, Caedron. You of all people should recognize the symptoms."

"What. Because he surprised you," he chided in response, he had yet to even look at her, causing her to boil even hotter, "I've seen you surprised before, you usually don't get this riled up."

"You weren't the one leaned over like a lover in the middle of a ballroom floor with everyone watching," she snarled, "this only complicates things and I hate unnecessary complications."

He fought the urge a sigh, as much as he wanted to show his disappointment in his fiery protégé's demeanor, he knew it would only stoke the fire further and that would be troublesome. Sometimes it frustrated him how she could be cool and controlled as Zero and a firecracker in public.

_Kallen, if you only took the time, you would know Prince Lelouch has as much reason to hate the Empire as much as you._

But he wasn't going to tell her that. The fact of the matter was that she would easily dismiss it as nothing. So deep was her hatred for Britannia and so possessed by her quest by vengeance, there was no way she would take his word.

That was the reason why he was trying to push her onto a path of having a social life. There was so much hate and rage coiled within despite his best efforts, Kallen would not shake her obsession to avenge her family. He knew what vengeance could do to a person if they let it consume them completely; he had seen it enough times on the battlefield. But Kallen was Zero, she couldn't afford to turn into what he knew was in her future if she continued on this path. Maybe that was his failing as a teacher; he had focused on her skills and not her humanity. Instead, she had become such a great actor at being someone who she wasn't.

He needed her to have that humanity, if she didn't, then sooner or later, when she was saddled with a larger burden, she would crack, and she would reveal exactly who she was when she had those tough and moral choices. If revenge was the only thing on her mind, then she would lose everything and end with nothing, even worse, she would be dead, betrayed by those who had trusted her until they realized just exactly what she was.

"Kallen, you need to do this," he finally stated plainly after placing down the book, "I know you don't like it, but this is part of what needs to be done. If you don't rub elbows with the powerful when you are the powerful, then people will start to wonder, especially when things get more serious. And despite the problems that may result, you may just meet people who share in your beliefs. So, like I told you last night, take this as another lesson."

She rolled her eyes with a huff, "Let's just drop it."

"As you wish," he responded, knowing that the seed had been replanted again, though there would be even more reticence now that there had been a problem.

"Countess," the pilot called over the intercom from the cockpit, "you have a video call from Milly Ashford."

"Great," Kallen muttered under her breath.

_Well, I guess she just found out. Better find shelter_. Getting up after grabbing his book, he decided retreat was the best option for the coming storm, "I'm going to go up to the cockpit and let you girls have your chat. Have fun."

Watching him quickly leave, she sighed even more deeply. Why did he keep insisting on this frivolity?

Not coming up with an answer, she collected herself with a deep breath. It never ended well with anyone that was off-kilter around Milly Ashford.

Tapping a button, it activated the screen across from her, revealing Milly, comfortably ensconced in her living room chair. Kallen had forgotten what time it was in Japan, judging by the darkness behind her it was the middle of the night.

"Hey Mill-"

"You BITCH!"

From zero to sixty in confusion, Kallen thought as she tried to understand the reason her best friend was calling her a bitch, but why it wasn't angry as much as it was playful.

"I-uh-what?"

"When were you going to tell me you and Lulu were an item? I mean, I thought were both sisters in the art of ditching men, but now I guess you were already taken and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Kallen replied even more confused now, holding both of her hands up, "Milly Ashford, what the hell are you talking about?"

"This you tart," Milly responded, holding up a tabloid magazine, with a picture of Lelouch holding her in a dip on the ballroom floor, both of their eyes locked on each other, the camera angle perfect for the shot that made them look like lovers in a ballroom dance.

It took several seconds for it to fully register exactly what she was looking at, but when it did…

"GOD FUCKING DAMN YOU LELOUCH VI BRITANNIA!"

0000000000000

_Why do I feel so cold all of a sudden_, Lelouch thought as he involuntarily shivered.

Probably because you have the makings of a massacre here, he thought as he focused on the situation developing before him at luncheon table.

He was still trying to figure out where everything had gone wrong. After Gino had left he had gotten to work preparing lunch for his sisters after Sayoko had confirmed that they would attend. Everything had been ready, he was going to clear up whatever Euphie wanted dealt with, Cornelia would be calmed, and he could have some time for Nunnally. It was going to be a good day.

Instead Euphemia had brought along a guest, his eyes locking on to the uninvited guest and cause of the issue, who was nervously nibbling on a sandwich, eyes glancing between himself and Cornelia.

_Why couldn't Suzaku just give me a heads up before he got here_, Lelouch inwardly groaned as Cornelia had not even touched her food, instead choosing to glare daggers at the Honorary Britannian. The only thing preventing her vociferous displeasure from being manifested to its fullest extent was the crippled and blind little girl happily munching on her sandwich.

"This is really good, big brother," Nunnally chirped after she finished her sandwich, "I really missed your cooking."

"Thank you Nunnally. I really missed cooking for you," he replied as she giggled. As she giggled he cast a glare at his half-siblings and subordinate.

"So," he finally said to break the silence, "Euphemia, Cornelia here said you wished to speak to me about something," he caught Cornelia out of the corner of his eye coiling as if to pounce, "what did you wish to speak with me about? I take it that it has something to do with Kururugi here."

Euphemia's eyes darted to Cornelia again, as if making sure that her sister hadn't moved any closer and was ready to pounce on her. Satisfied they came back to Lelouch.

"I want Suzaku as my knight."

"Euphie!"

Cornelia was now on her feet, hands pressed down on the table.

"I'm not arguing this with you sister. You told me I needed a knight, I choose Suzaku."

It was barely perceptible, reading body language was something he had learned over the years, but nothing could brace him for what he was seeing. He had been closely monitoring Euphemia and Suzaku's body language since they began eating, and just as Cornelia began protesting and Euphemia seemed to waver, Suzaku's body language change and Euphemia's resolve seemed to harden. To any untrained eye, they just seemed to get closer, but the subtle shift of Suzaku's shoulder, the proximity, and Euphemia's reaction all computed into one thing: Euphie and Suzaku were more than just Princess and Knight.

_Oh God_, he mentally groaned, I _don't need this kind of drama right now._

It was bad enough that Euphie wanted Suzaku as her Knight, that fallout would be easy to weather. No, if it came out that a Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire was involved with an Honorary Britannian, well; he could imagine the end result, none of it good.

Yet as he was about to open his mouth to protest it as well, he stopped, glancing at Cornelia for a moment as a new ideas flitted itself to the forefront.

_There's no way Cornelia will be able to rein in Euphemia, the writing has been on the wall for months now that Euphie is finally taking charge of her life. It's only a matter of time before Euphemia starts flexing some of that muscle to get around her. I have a feeling that this relationship with Suzaku, even if there is some romance in it, is one of those shots across the bow of the Emperor's policies. But she's too damnably naïve to realize that if she made this go public, the Emperor would have her dealt with just like anyone else that rocked the boat. There's one thing that Cornelia values even more highly than her loyalty to the Empire and that is Euphemia. I can use this to my advantage._

"Allison, could you please take Nunnally out for a walk."

"But big brother," Nunnally protested, "I want to hear about this."

"It's boring business," he firmly stated, "I don't think you want to hear me talk about this?"

"Is it because Euphemia and Suzaku are in love?"

"WHAT," Cornelia yelled as Lelouch could only facepalm, his sister was do damnably perceptive he wondered if she was truly psychic.

"Allison, Nunnally, now. Nunnally, I promise I will make this up to you. Cornelia, SIT DOWN."

Allison had quickly carted Nunnally away over her protestations for good reason, Lelouch had forgotten that Cornelia kept her ornate but deadly pistol on her and it was now drawn and pointed at Euphemia who had interposed herself between her sister's true target, his jaw was set as he stared down Cornelia.

"Sister, put down the gun."

"Get out of the way Euphie; I won't let him taint your honor."

"I did no such thing, Your Highness," Suzaku bristled.

"Cornelia, I'm asking you as a brother, put away the gun and sit down," noting that Cornelia wasn't going to budge, he sighed, his shoulders slumping, then produced his own pistol he kept on his person at all times and aimed at Cornelia, "now I'm asking you as a man with a gun. Put away your weapon now, sister, and let's talk this over."

Euphie's gasp was predictable, as was Suzaku's expression hardening; Cornelia's face took on an expression of calculation as she noted the gun in his hand and the target before her.

"You won't do it," Cornelia said.

"I'm not going to let this turn into a bloodbath Cornelia," he replied firmly, even though yes, the jury was still out on if he could do it. Was he willing to sacrifice Suzaku, who offered his services as a Knight of the Round level devicer and direct challenger to Bismarck for Cornelia, who could offer him an army? Could he let Cornelia kill Suzaku and burn every single bridge she had with her sister? Or could he make it work all to his advantage?

_Qui audet adipiscitur as Darlton says, _Lelouch thought as he holstered his gun, closing his eyes, _he who dares, wins._

"Euphemia, I will approve your request," he looked at Cornelia, who immediately realized with the new development she could not casually execute Suzaku without possible censure, a Knight of Honor was answerable only to his or her liege, the Knights of the Round, and the Emperor, the circumstantial evidence that she had would not be enough to truly protect her.

She lowered the gun, though her glare did not waver.

"However, there will be some conditions," he added, "Suzaku may be your Knight of Honor, but when I need him, he WILL serve me. I am not going to give up one of my most prized assets to you without strings attached. Second, this relationship, you two do realize the ramifications if this breaks, right?"

"Of course she doesn't," Cornelia snarled, spite lacing every word, "if she did, she wouldn't dare sully her time with this riff-raff."

"Cornelia," Lelouch interrupted Euphemia's angry retort that was developing, "walk with me. You two," he cast a withering look at the two lovers, "stay right here."

0000000000000

Shutting the door to the study behind him, he watched as Cornelia had already begun stalking back and forth over the rug in the study like a caged tiger.

"I refuse to have this Lelouch. I will admit that Kururugi is probably the best Knight of Honor my sister could pick, but he's an Honorary Britannian, an ELEVEN. If he was a Britannian I would approve this in an instant but…"

He could only sigh. For everything that was useful and great about his half-sister, the only thing that truly held her back was the fact that she was a hardcore bigot. This inflexibility left her several lacking in the ability to think outside the box and question anything. Instead, her greatest strength was also her greatest weakness.

"He's a former Eleven," he finished.

"I can't let this happen, I will not allow Euphemia's foolishness doom her."

"Therefore Kururugi must die. Are you listening to yourself Cornelia?"

"I'm only doing what honor dictates!"

"And do you really think that Euphemia will stop being herself? That if you establish that you will kill anyone you don't approve of that involves themselves with Euphemia that this will stop her? If anything, you will only drive her to even further extremes, sister. What would you do if your sister actually rebelled because of your actions?"

This caused Cornelia to hesitated, as he knew it would. There was no way in any of his calculations ever that Cornelia would ever go against her sister. Much in the same way he wouldn't do anything to harm Nunnally intentionally.

"But if the Emperor or any of our siblings found out?"

"Then we will deal with it then. Sister, you do realize that of all the people Euphie could have picked, Captain Kururugi is probably the best suited for her. Not because he's a warrior, but because he's not afraid to stand up for what he believes in."

"Just saying he is something doesn't make him that."

So it was going to take his trump card in order to assuage Cornelia. How inconvenient, considering the pledge he had made to Suzaku in regards to what he was about to reveal.

"Have you ever wondered why Area 11 fell so easily when every report we had stated that Genbu Kururugi would force the Area into fighting to the last man?"

"Because the man was a coward," she retorted irritably, as if going over old information was beneath her, "he committed suicide simply because he was another one of those politicians that told people what to do and did not follow it himself."

"And what if I told you that Kururugi did not commit suicide? What if I told you that a small ten-year old boy, terrified for his life and afraid of all the people that he cared for would die because of his father's zeal in a fit of desperation..."

"I would tell you it's im-," her eyes widened as it hit her like an artillery shell.

"That's right," Lelouch replied, "Captain Kururugi out there slayed his own father to prevent Area 11 from turning into even further of a bloodbath for us. Fighting to the last man is an incredibly bloody affair don't you think?"

"Indeed," she had experienced her fair share of last stands in Area 18. It wasn't that she cared for the Numbers, no; final stands were brutal, grueling, and bloody affairs, usually ending in pyrrhic affairs for her forces.

"Kururugi is a rare breed of soldier Cornelia," he continued, "he doesn't care about power or prestige for the sake of it, he cares for what's right and wrong. Much like Euphemia. But he can back up his idealism with force of arms. There is no better Knight for her."

"And what about their relationship. Royal blood cannot mix with Honorary Britannians."

"Why not?"

"Because it is improper. Noble-born should not mix with the lesser classes."

_The typical by-the-book answer, exactly what I wanted,_ Lelouch thought with an internal smile, and now to spring the trap.

"You forget, Cornelia, Empress Marianne, my mother, was common-born."

The expression was priceless; it was as if the very floor had been yanked from under her. If there was one thing that Cornelia worshipped, it was his mother. In fact, the only reason she had joined the military was to impress Marianne, though she would never admit it to anyone. The very idea that she had just insulted the very woman that she idolized was exactly the type of shock he needed to drive home.

"That's not what I meant," she quickly tried to defend herself, "Empress Marianne was a Knight of the Round, and she earned everything bestowed upon her-"

"It doesn't matter. She. Was. A. Commoner. The only reason she became Empress is because the Emperor chose to mix those noble bloodlines you preach about with a commoner."

Cornelia was defeated, he was now sure of it. The way that she clammed shut and seemed to have the wind taken out of her sails. It was only a matter of clearing the last task at hand and he had her in checkmate.

"The Emperor will not allow this, if he finds out that Euphie..."

_All tasks at hand have been cleared_, he thought, _now she is mine._

"The Emperor's time on the throne is rapidly coming to a close. All that is left is to decide who is going to take it."

He got exactly what expected from his dear sister. A few years ago Cornelia would not have hesitated to protest such an observation. But after the meat grinder of the last six years of nonstop warfare, the cracks were beginning to develop. She never really wasn't loyal to the Emperor as much as Britannia itself. Easy to take advantage of, especially with Euphemia on the line.

"The next five years will decide the path of Britannia, Cornelia. While you may look at me as an outsider, an upstart, I am the only one, above all else, that truly wishes for a world where Euphie and Nunnally can live without fearing that they will become political tools to be married off or merely discarded because they are a burden to him. The question I guess I should ask is, since you do not seek the throne, who will you turn to for protection? Schneizel? You and I both know that he's nothing more than a carbon copy of the Emperor, he's just better at hiding who he is. Are you going to turn to Guinevere's little cabal of warmongers and opportunists? To them you are nothing more than a who-"

He didn't get to finish as Cornelia's open palm impacted against the side of his face, causing his head to snap.

_I might have overdone it there,_ he thought as he rubbed his jaw.

"I know what you are trying to get me to do Lelouch. I'm not some stupid girl who can't see how the cards are falling, don't you dare treat me like the rest of your followers. I am not one of your pawns."

"I never claimed you a pawn. I have always thought of you as a rook," he admitted truthfully, "strong, capable, and unwavering in the fulfillment of duty."

"I never really understood your chess analogies Lelouch. But I will take that as a compliment," she could only smile as she had a thought, a way to get back at her younger brother, "does that make the Countess your queen?"

_Touché Cornelia_, he thought but said nothing. Last night was amusing, the Countess was an interesting specimen, and if he was honest to himself, he had spent part of the morning studying her. There was just something to her that a part of him was attracted to, what it was he couldn't put it into concrete terms.

"So are we in agreement?"

The elder Princess nodded her head, "you had better be right about Kururugi and I expect you to keep your word. But there is one thing we need to iron out."

Checkmate.

"And what is that?"

0000000000000

Clearing her throat, she stared levelly at her sister and her future knight of honor.

God help her she let Lelouch talk her into this, but like everything, he had a point.

"I will approve Captain Kururugi as your Knight of Honor, with Lelouch's condition."

The look of surprise on the Honorary Britannian almost made her decision digestible, almost.

Euphie flung herself around her though a look of joy on her face, even as she did not reflect her younger sister's exuberance.

"Thank you Cornelia."

"I'm not finished; you may not thank me after you hear this."

Her gaze then shifted to Suzaku as she continued.

"I do not approve of your relationship, but Lelouch has convinced me to be more…open in my opinion. However, that won't work on others. Therefore, my conditions are as follows: First, for the time being, you are to keep your relationship secret, keep it private. Second, you, Kururugi, will keep it in your pants. If I find out that you have taken my sister's purity, I will personally lop off your miniscule manhood and feed it to you."

There, perfectly executed, and she knew that Kururugi would know that she meant it. So why did Kururugi seem to evade her glare and Euphemia snorted in dismissive amusement?

"Dear Sister," the pink-haired princess stated with a hint of smugness,"for the record, Suzaku is quite well endowed."

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In spite of a few small hiccups, he now had Cornelia firmly in his camp. All in all, despite the fact that he could feel his cheek begin to bruise from the brutal slap only his warrior half-sister was capable of, it had worked out incredibly well. Though he had not expected that Suzaku, of all people, would be the one that would set the plan in motion. It was almost elegant in its uncomplicated simplicity.

He had sent Cornelia on her way to fix the problem she had created with her intransigence while he prepared the ground for after that. In this case, he was brewing a pitcher of peach tea to finish off the luncheon.

Happy with the product of his efforts, in many ways like his plans, he gathered up the necessary implements to serve it and came back to the patio to find Euphemia and Suzaku back sitting at the table chatting with one another. But Cornelia, Cornelia on the other hand, was standing there frozen in place, her eyes wide as saucers.

"What is going on," he demanded placing the tray down as Euphemia glanced over at Cornelia before nonchalantly shrugging her shoulders and going back to focusing on Suzaku who had a content look on his face.

"I think her rage broke."

"And what. May I ask. Did you say to cause this?"

"Oh nothing much. Other than Suzaku and I were already sleeping together."

Oh for the love of God!

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"With the final Q4 profit revisions completed, I feel that in reflection of the eight percent growth we work on one of two things, the first we either increase the overall infrastructure of the company via the acquisition of one of the three target companies discussed in the previous meeting or we need to expand our operations by opening up additional production lines. I know that the Viceroy isn't exactly a huge fan of us-"

"Fan? Nils, if we try and open additional lines, they will gut us with additional regulations and fees. They frankly HATE the fact we are hiring Numbers-"

"Japanese," Caedron now spoke, correcting the woman, causing Kallen to leer, "if we forget who we really are hiring then we will make the same mistakes as our competitors and turn valued members of our team into chattel."

The leer then turned into a full-blown smile as the woman chastised fell silent, obviously adjusting her glasses, a tic of hers when she was irritated. Eiran Callahan was the Chief Financial Officer for the Stadtfeld Consortium, and while she was an arrogant bitch at times, she was quite efficient and capable at her job, year in and out the Stadtfeld Consortium had grown under her eagle eye. Pretty good for a woman that had dropped out of university and had been a lowly secretary only a decade ago.

Kallen refocused on the task at hand, continuing to listen to the meeting on her noise-cancelling earbuds. It wasn't necessary that she was at the meeting, in fact, she preferred it so, she wasn't the CEO yet, but it paid to be informed of the decision making for when she decided to do so. Caedron hadn't disagreed when she had made the request that she be able to listen in, it was, after all, an education experience for her.

But right now, even as she listened, she was more focused upon the object that was currently disassembled upon the table before her as she went back to wiping it down.

"Japanese," Eiran corrected, "frankly, the money we have to divert to buy off the necessary bureaucrats is becoming increasingly troublesome for our bottom line, even with the increase in orders for hardware from the Army, there has been a likewise increase in the fees," she said that word with the most disdainful tone she could, "in order to operate. If we decide to open a new production facility, I have a feeling that the Viceroy's office will demand an additional percentage or two off our bottom-line to keep them from cracking down upon us."

"Can that feeling be confirmed," Nils Farahr asked, he was older than Caedron and was actually an old friend of her fathers, while he did not extend that courtesy to her, he did not hold it against her either. As the Chief Operating Officer for the Consortium he ran most of the day-to-day operations, though with his age, Kallen was considering his replacement, the damnable problem was he was too good to be replaced at the moment, in spite of their differences.

"I asked Roman to check in on it with his sources," Eiran responded, mentioning Roman Ethland, the company lawyer, "he says we shouldn't be worried about it so much, with what's happening at Morgan Industries, a lot of those contracts won't be able to be fulfilled so they will have to turn to us to meet it."

"They should have come to us in the first place," Nils retorted angrily, "the only reason Morgan got the contract was because of the supposed security risks those pencil-pushing pissants keep chirping about. Every single employee has passed our security checks. We would have charged them a lot less and they fucking know it."

"Calm yourself Nils," Caedron was back, his voice soothing, "we all knew there was a high probability that Morgan would get the contract over us in spite of the fact we make a better product for cheaper. Now that Morgan will be up to its neck in red tape for its poor security and that scandal, we need to take advantage of it."

_All because of us_, Kallen added, knowing that Caedron was thinking the same thing. She had finished cleaning her work and was now moved on to assembly of it.

"What's going on with Project Narayanastra," Eiran inquired to the fourth member of the meeting room, who had been silent the entire time, "there better not be any more delays."

"Narayanastra is back on schedule," Rakshata Chawla responded her voice raised in offense "it's not my fault that they wanted the prototype to be a next generation platform instead of a seventh as they had previously stipulated. I may be the best Knightmare designer in the world, but even I can't magically conjure up a Knightmare on a whim."

Of course, this was a lie, Kallen thought, Narayanastra was running perfectly on schedule, Zero's schedule.

It was probably one of the most grand of deceptions she had up her sleeve, something she had been working towards ever since she had Caedron buy up the Ashford Foundation. It wasn't so much that the Stadtfeld Consortium was into philanthropy, though it looked good. No, the true target was the Knightmare development branch, specifically the data and unfinished projects that had never been finished before its closure. With the data and projects, the Stadtfeld Consortium was now a player in the Knightmare Frame market, with Narayanastra being the future of the company.

That was part of the reason now why Rakshata was the head of the Research and Development branch, though, to the Board, her name was Mayura Das and she was born and raised on the mainland. With Rakshata, Kallen could be sure Narayanastra would be able to fulfill the true purpose, as the standard bearer for the Noppera-bo's Knightmare Corps, providing both an Eighth-Generation model but also a lesser unit for mass-production.

The delay thought was unfortunate, but necessary. This was because of the difficulty in acquiring the components for another Radiation Wave Shield from India. While it was acknowledged that Rakshata was serving her by the inner circle in the Maharajah's court, there wasn't a real consensus from India to support Zero; instead, they worked more closely with Kyoto…at least for now.

"I would like everyone's thoughts on what's happening over at Morgan," Caedron asked.

"Dead as a doornail," came Nils' response, "there's no way they will be able to get out of the scandal for running a Refrain operation if this Zero character is to be believed and it appears to be so. I won't be surprised if the upper management all quit. Gedron was wise to cap himself before the investigators could get to him."

"Eiran?"

"I have to agree with Nils here. Already the markets are reflecting the scandal with the collapse of their stocks. It dropped another twenty percent overnight. There's no way they will be able to recover. If anything, we could make an attempt at purchasing it up."

"We're thinking alike, but we'll wait until the storm passes before we extend any feelers."

"Is there anything else we need to discuss before I close this meeting?"

Silence reigned, Kallen deciding now was the time she didn't have to focus on the meeting as she picked up the fully assembled item, held it up, without looking, swung her arm length wide and pulled the trigger, the assembled gun loyally responding loudly as it hurled its deadly payload into a target downrange.

Happy with the result she turned and marched towards the target pulling the trigger repeatedly until she had, her eyes never leaving the target as she fired, envisioning the human-shaped target was a certain violet eyed bastard who haunted her. Exercise completed she turned back to the table as Caedron chose to talk again.

"Very well, then this meeting is adjourned."

Returning to the table, she grabbed a few more magazines after she reloaded it, placing them in her shorts pocket, angled in a way where she could quickly extract a magazine, flick her wrist and it was ready to be placed in.

Turning around, she stopped as the corner of her eye caught the glare of a telephoto lens in the distance. It took every fiber of her being not to turn to glare at it, a fiber that was on the verge of snapping with that photographer eating a few rounds.

Ever since the ball, she had been inundated by the press wanting all the skinny on her "relationship" with Lelouch vi Britannia. Despite every protest from her, it only made it worse because while she was outright denying it, Lelouch WASN'T.

So she hadn't gone to school today, due to the fact that the press was everywhere trying to hound her.

Now, she was doing the only thing she had available to blow off steam: Which was to shoot targets. In this case a memory-gel ballistic doll. It was pretty much all she had available currently, not like she could go out as Zero and order a strike on a few press offices…as tempting as it was.

"I heard you skipped class, Kallen," Caedron was back, but this time he was talking directly to her.

It took every effort not to snap at him for even being concerned. As proud as she was, she felt slightly guilty the fact that she was holding all of this against him, but he had caused this in the first place.

"Too much press crawling about, you know how much I hate them," which was true, she had a longstanding axe to grind because of their involvement in the proceedings of the battle for her inheritance, they had made it a lot more difficult for her eventual court victory, she had never forgiven them for trashing her mother.

"And what are you going to do tomorrow?"

"Who knows," Kallen replied with an unconscious shrug, "depends on them, "not like I have a choice but to sit and take it easy until it blows over."

"But it won't blow over," Caedron replied, "the media is obsessed with Prince Lelouch. The fact that Lelouch has-"

Her face darkened as she brought the gun up and began shooting, drowning out Caedron as she silently raged at her plight.

Emptying the magazine into the target she stopped to exchange magazines, taking deep breaths as she felt some of that rage dissipate.

Just give her one chance as Zero. ONE CHANCE! That's all she would need to take that bastards sword from him and skewer him, could God maybe arrange that for her, please?

"Are you done yet," he asked testily.

"No, I'm not."

"Just listen a minute, Kallen. You really need to rein in that temper; it's not helping you if you let it cloud your judgment. What I was going to suggest is that instead of avoiding the press, you instead embrace it."

"By what? Saying there's a relationship between me and him?"

"Why not? The best defense is a good offense Kallen, and frankly, you've been on the defensive since it broke. You come out and push the issue, and then he will have no choice but to back down and claim it was a joke."

It actually made sense, in a perverse way. There was no way that he would be able to actually be in a relationship with her. She was a half-breed, after all, in spite of her title of nobility, the fact that her mother was legally an Eleven would not exactly be viewed with any type of favor in the Imperial Court, even if the body imperial had forgotten what her status was. The fact of the matter was, she was a noble by rank and recognized by the courts as such, so she could afford to be a half-breed, but that didn't exempt matters of blood.

_All right, Lelouch_, she thought as she smiled, holstering the gun, _two can play this game._

"I have just the right person for what you are suggesting," Kallen responded to Caedron.

0000000000000

"After all, he is my prince, what he asks for, he gets," Lelouch murmured as he read through the interview again on the computer in front of him, with a deepening frown.

He sat back in his chair, running his hand through his hair, his mind slightly taken aback by the development before him.

This…this was something completely unexpected and truth be told, it was quite interesting. He had figured he could play this game for another week and then it would simply disappear; such was the nature of the media.

But this, this he couldn't ignore, it was no longer a game. No, the gauntlet was being thrown. All the more interesting, because he had underestimated the Countess. Now he knew exactly what it was that he found so interesting with her.

She could play the game just like him.

He could only smile to that as he began to prepare his next move.

0000000000000

Caedron had returned home finally after dealing with a few more issues at the headquarters as Kallen was draped over a couch, the television playing in the background as she seemed to use it more as a background noise than for any real purpose, though Caedron noted that it was the entertainment news_, _which easily changed the perception as to why she was doing it.

He had to admit that Kallen had handled herself quite well after their little talk. Setting up a quick interview with a local gossip rag that was sure to get widespread dissemination as soon as it hit not only was clever, but it changed the distribution route for information. While Lelouch had used an official Britannian source for his press, by Kallen using a local, she could manipulate it to her advantage.

"You seem pretty happy with yourself," he observed.

"A bit," she replied, distractedly, her eyes flitted to him for a moment as he sat down in a chair before going back to what she was reading on the tablet, she then got up and handed him the tablet as she headed in the direction of the kitchen.

"Our next target and opplan," she stated as she stopped at the door, "I want it operational in three days."

She then left him in the buzz of the television as he looked it over.

"Code R," he said thoughtfully to himself, "I guess this entire Lelouch thing has finally got her fired up."

* * *

A/N: I would like to apologize off the bat on my tardiness in getting this chapter out, I've promised several people that I would have had it out last week, but unfortunately things like life and health sort of get in the way. Those people I should extend my apology to are **Magery**, **shadowrallen**, and **reality deviant**. I know I kept giving out a certain time period, but yeah, things just didn't seem to work out.

On another more story-driven note, I will be taking a short hiatus after this next chapter to rewrite at least half of my other fic, I have been putting it off until now, I expect, barring any unforeseen shenanigans, a timetable of about 2 weeks to be taken up. This does not mean I won't be working on Ice and Fire, in fact, when I'm mobile I will be more than likely writing it on my phone, I am just pointing out that there will be a slight delay in the overall output of the story.

Finally, I would like to thank all of you that have reviewed my fic, and I hope that my responses to your queries in the reviews have been sufficient. I look forward to further reviews in the near future. Once again, I repeat myself in saying that I enjoy conversing with my readers and **Keep**, I look forward to you signing in and exchanging ideas.

Until next time.


	5. Storming Heaven

**Chapter 4**

_**Storming Heaven**_

_It is the nature of man when looking to heroic figures that we naturally focus solely upon that one person and forget everyone else involved. We love to believe in the romantic notion that a singular individual is an organization, that through their will alone are results achieved._

_Maybe it is with that thought in mind that to even this day Zero refuses to publicly claim any credit without including everyone else, despite the world foisting her to such a standard. Instead, she insists that the true hero was never even herself, but the man who truly laid the groundwork for the world's change was Caedron Harrington. Without what he did, there would be no Noppera-bo, no Zero, and no Great Reformation. Caedron's contributions were the intangibles that we as a people ignore for the simple fact that they cannot be measured, yet if we look at the people who credit Caedron, we can see the impact he had upon them, if Zero was the leader, Caedron was the teacher._

_If he were alive today, I have no doubt that he would claim that he did nothing more than what was required of him as a loyal son of Britannia and give credit to Zero and everyone else._

_But maybe that is the true lesson he has taught us. No matter who built it, it's the people who make the difference._

**_- Cera Cuchulain; The Architect: Caedron Ricardo Harrington, Paladin Books, 2027 a.t.b._**

_Before the April 4__th__ raid by Zero, there was no one who believed that Zero would dare strike so deep into Britannian territory. After it, the resulting shattered superiority left the high command believing Zero was capable of anything. And for a time, they were right._

**_- Captain Ariadne Harrington, Chief Intelligence Officer for Knights of Idris, April 6__th__, 2018 a.t.b._**

_I always knew a redhead would be perfect for big brother!_

**_- Princess Nunnally vi Britannia_**

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**_Capricorn Villa_**

**_Imperial City of Pendragon_**

**_March 31__st__, 2018 a.t.b._**

**_9:36pm Pendragon Mean Time (PMT)_**

"Guilford! Another!"

"Your Highness, I respectfully-"

"Do I need to get up and grab the bottle myself," she retorted angrily, looking in the opposite direction he was as she snarled at him.

_I doubt you would be able to get that far_, Guilford thought glumly at the sight of his Princess as he grabbed the bottle-

"No no, not the bourbon, I want the other stuff with the worm...

Guilford winced, knowing exactly what she meant as he took his hand off the bottle and grabbed the tequila in question and filled the shot glass in front of a very inebriated Cornelia who was making the solid effort of just keeping herself upright.

But instead of snatching it up and downing it right away, she stared at it unevenly.

"I can't believe it Guilford, where did I go wrong with her," this was the fifth time she repeated herself on that line, the alcohol not providing any answer of worth, "I did everything to raise her as a proper princess. I gave her everything and she throws it all away!"

She snatched the shot up and quickly downed it before slamming it down and let out a short sob.

"She's sixteen Guilford. SIXTEEN! I remember those days when she used to bawl her eyes out when Lelouch didn't play with her. Now she's not only in love with an Honorary Britannian, but she's- she's consummated."

Shuddering she grabbed the shot with a trembling hand and held it up, Guilford getting the nonverbal cue to refill it.

"I mean," she slurred, a slight blush a warning sign that the alcohol was finally impacting her fully, her control slipping , "I was 23 when you and I...THAT BOY CAN'T BE MORE ENDOWED THAN YOU GILLY!"

Guilford thanked whatever God in existence that it was just the two of them. Already he was dying from embarrassment for his Princess being so sloshed and what she was saying. This was the first time he had really seen her lose control of herself like this, and it was safe to say it was both embarrassing and worrisome.

"I just wanted the right thing for her," Cornelia sobbed, "is that too much for a big sister to want for her little sister."

What could he say? Was there anything to maybe get through to his Princess, his Goddess of Victory? The very woman he had sworn to protect and love, even if she didn't return those feelings. But there was nothing, he realized, all he could do he was doing right now as he wrapped his arms around Cornelia and held her as she sobbed.

It had to be Lelouch's doing. There's no way that Cornelia would allow this to happen without being conned into it. Cornelia would have killed that Kururugi boy for what that boy did for the sake of honor, just as he would have done for his Princess.

He would need to have a discussion with Prince Lelouch tomorrow as to what he was planning to do with his Princess.

So focused on what he needed to do, he never noticed Cornelia's changed demeanor before it was too late, as impassioned kisses upon the side of his neck turned into him with his back on the table, shot glasses flying off the surface and shattering on the floor.

"P-Princess!"

"Guilford," she said in a low sultry voice, "my knight."

"P-Princess this is highly improper you are-"

A finger was placed on his lips, silencing him as she straddled, a sloppy smile on her face, eyes unfocused as she started to try and slip off her clothes with one hand but fumbling with it.

"I must protest Your Highness," he tried to reach out to her as he could feel his own steely resolve, he could buck her off, but it'd result in her injury and he could not bear to harm her. But she was drunk, he could not take advantage of her in her weakness, it was ungentlemanly.

All thoughts vacated as she ripped open his uniform, buttons gave way as they flew off to parts unknown. She flopped down on him, her balance lost as his face was filled with cleavage, her giggling in his ears.

She pushed herself back up, eyes slitted, as she divested herself of the top of her uniform, undergarment the only thing left restraining her, her body moving to music only she could hear, her hand reaching down to caress his face.

"My darling Guilford," she murmured, as she slipped off his glasses, placing them aside.

"Your Highness," he no longer had the resolve to resist, maybe that was the effect she had on him, all the decorum that came with his title could be taken away in an instant, because he only wanted to do her right.

She then leaned down and kissed him, a tentative kiss at first that quickly became heated, before he suddenly realized that he was the only one kissing now, her lips were still.

His eyes opened and he realized that hers were closed but her breathing was even.

She couldn't be.

"Princess," he asked, to no answer.

Oh God, she was.

Trying to gather himself to lift himself up, he realized the pointlessness of such a measure, she still straddled his body and all her weight was on him, he realized with a strangled sound escaping his lips.

Though, I have to admit, she does look quite beautiful...what the hell are you thinking Guilford, here you are, in the process of being undressed, the Princess is also somewhat undressed. If anyone walks in...

A clearing of the throat caused him to look to the source of the disruption to his thinking to spot Darlton standing there with a knowing look on his face.

"I leave you two alone for a day and I come back to find you two-"

"It's not what you think!"

"Then you might want to have a discussion with your lance, because it looks like it is what it is."

He groaned as he mentally berated a certain extremity that was currently resting against a certain posterior.

"Will you just help me get her off?"

"Weren't you trying to do that before I came in here?"

Guilford's eyes rolled upwards, leave it to the oldest man of her knights to have the dirtiest of minds.

"Off me," he clarified, exasperatedly "get her off me. I don't want to hurt her Highness."

His fun had, he moved over and gently lifted her off of Guilford and gently placed her back in a chair before going to track down the rest of her uniform as Guilford grabbed his glasses and slipped them on as he sat up.

"So what got under the Princess's skin," Darlton asked as he found the jacket and slipped it on her.

"She found out Euphemia and the Kururugi boy were involved," he replied as he adjusted his glasses, just in time to catch the smile on Andreas' face, "and judging by your expression you knew."

"I had an inkling. The Princess asked me a few times my thought on the Captain," he shrugged, "you really can't fight against the grain with a sixteen year old. And Euphemia could have done worse."

"But he's an Honorary Britannian."

"And Empress Marianne was a commoner. Do you really think Princess Euphemia truly has a shot at the throne, or even as a political piece? She's too hard-headed for it, so as long as she keeps it quiet," he shrugged.

"Euphie," Cornelia groaned, causing both men to glance at her.

"I'll take care of the Princess," Darlton declared, "I doubt she'll be waking up anytime soon. Go take a bit off."

Guilford nodded, noting the finality of his tone as the senior knight proceeded to pick up the befallen Princess and proceeded to carry her out of the room, leaving Guilford to gather up his stuff and set way for a very long and very cold shower.

0000000000000

**_Imperial Britannia Palace_**

**_Pendragon_**

**_April 1__st__, 2018 a.t.b. _**

**_10:04am PMT_**

"Announcing Prince-General Lelouch vi Britannia, eighth heir to the Royal Britannian Imperial throne."

It was different now, the last time he had come here of his own volition before the Emperor, it had been as a child, surrounded by the bootlicking vermin that propagated the ranks of nobility. Now, in this smaller chamber, he stood alone before the Emperor, with no man or woman behind him to make any snide comments.

He strode forward now as a conquering general, not as a little boy afraid and alone full of questions. Instead he came before with a request, not a demand.

Bringing himself to a kneel before the man who was the God-Emperor of Britannia, he bowed his head, words already on his tongue as he merely spoke.

"Hail Your Majesty."

And now, the game was on, as he could feel the Emperor shift within his throne as he peered down at the boy who had grown into a man, who while genetically his, was no longer his.

"Lelouch," he rumbled, "why have you sought an audience with me?"

"I seek to make a request of you, Your Majesty," he replied, keeping his head bowed, as much as it pained him, he knew that this was the game that needed to be played, for now, he was merely the subservient son who served the Empire.

"Oh? Well, this IS a first," the God-Emperor responded with a chuckle, "speak."

"Your Majesty, as my commander-in-chief, I come to you requesting time for a leave of absence."

A long silence reigned as the Emperor seemed to deliberate the request, yet Lelouch refused to raise his head up, doing so would require eye contact between himself and the Emperor and he was loathe to admit it, but he preferred to not see the man who had casually ordered his expulsion to Japan nine years ago.

"Look at me, Lelouch," the Emperor commanded, Lelouch no longer having any excuse not to look the Emperor, just like the man to deny him any benefit, raising his head up, he stared down the man, purple clashing with purple, the only thing in common the two men had.

"Why?"

So he was curious, that was a first, after all, I have not exactly done anything like this before, I have only been the good little soldier that he wanted, he thought with a bitter smile that did not grace his face.

"Your Majesty, I have served the Empire loyally and without break for the last five years. In between the six campaigns and the single major attempt upon my life by unknown assailants, I have denied my sister the presence of a loving brother and at least some semblance of a normal life. With her fifteenth birthday in just over six months I feel duty-bound to be there for her for at least some time. Besides, Your Majesty, I must confess I am growing tired of playing the conqueror. It no longer presents the challenges it once did. Perhaps a short break will allow my, our, enemies to improve themselves."

He could feel those eyes trying to strip him away now, as if trying to ascertain exactly what angle Lelouch was trying to play. He had chosen to approach the Emperor himself, even though he could have easily had Cornelia, as the General of the Army, grant him leave. It was a more high-stakes gamble, and to be perfectly honest, he preferred playing high stakes. But if the Emperor approved it, then he be beyond reproach for his decision, while if he approached Cornelia or even Schneizel, there would be accusations of sibling favoritism spoken in the shadows. However, with the Emperor, there would never be that accusation.

Then he did something Lelouch would never have expected, he rose to his feet.

"Walk with me, Lelouch."

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The walk had been a silent one, Lelouch trying to figure out what the Emperor would be wishing to discuss with him, the Emperor not providing any clues to it, and now they were entering Exelica Garden.

"Your mother loved Exelica," the Emperor finally rumbled after he came to a stop, looking them over, "she couldn't garden to save her soul, but she loved how they looked. That's probably why she demanded that I give her the Aries Palace when she became Empress."

_Why is he talking about this with me_, Lelouch thought his suspicion now notched up, the Emperor was never sentimental as far as he was aware. To see this side of the man who had ceased being his father nine years ago was neither accepted nor wanted in the least.

"Of course," he responded coolly, choosing antipathy as the best course of action.

The Emperor chose to sigh deeply, leaving Lelouch unable to ascertain if it was in reaction to his attitude or for something else, either way, he was in uncharted territory with the Emperor.

"It's been nine years, hasn't it," he finally continued, but not in askance, as he began walking again, Lelouch choosing to follow along behind him, "tell me Lelouch, have you ever wondered why I chose to rescind my order to send you to Area 11?"

_Why indeed? _There were one hundred and forty three different permutations of an answer he could give, each playing to a different facet of the man before him. Each response in many ways a culmination of the myriad of reasons he had concluded over the years as possibilities. But, there were merely calculations based on probable outcomes, they would not do so much here in this case.

"It is not my place to question your decision, Your Majesty," he chose answer forty-eight in this case, after all, if anything, it was the true face he showed as one of the leading generals of Britannia.

He stopped, causing Lelouch to stop himself, lest he run into the back of the Emperor.

"Lelouch," he spoke, irritation lacing his voice as he chose not to turn around to his erstwhile son, "there are very few things in this world that irritate me irrevocably. One of those is lying. I will not tolerate lying in my presence."

He did the only thing he could, he tilted his downwards in subservience, after all, when a man wielded his power as brutally as the Emperor, and he expected obedience.

"Of course. I merely believe it is not my right to question your decision, a half-truth really. In regards to your question, I have considered it from time to time, but I find myself with sixteen different probabilities. The highest probability being that my disobedience create a dilemma in that you realized you could not use me for political leverage because of my vehemence would result in the escalation of hostilities quickly if I was saddled with the Kururugi's as you had originally planned. The second highest probability was that you realized that if I had nothing left to lose, I would simply choose to terminate myself and Nunnally out of spite."

The Emperor's stiffened posture caused Lelouch to take an unconscious step back, as the elder slowly turned around, his imperious gaze leveled upon him in an odd mix of emotion that Lelouch could not place, possibly because they were emotions he had never seen the Emperor emote.

"Neither reason is why I chose to spare you from exile, Lelouch. However, I am curious, would you have chosen to kill yourself and Nunnally if I had not rescinded?"

Staring levelly, he chose the most honest of routes, "It was option four, Your Majesty."

There was no reaction from the towering hegemon as he simply asked, "And one through three?"

"I would rather not discuss them, however, if you insist: Option One simply was to follow your order to the letter, where I would expect that sooner or later, we would be killed by you while under the care of the Kururugi's who you would have given us to in order to create a suitable casus belli between the Empire and then-Japan by using our deaths to wave the bloody shirt; Option Two, was to defect to the Kururugi's and offer my services and insights to them in regards to defeating Britannia, I may have only been nine, but I understood where to hurt you and I had actionable intelligence that they could have used, all they needed to do was ensure Nunnally's safety in the process; Option Three, was to stay with the Kururugi's and when war broke out, I would fake Nunnally and I's death and we would disappear, presumably seeking shelter with the Ashfords until such a time in which I could begin a rebellion against you and the Empire of Britannia, taking what was rightfully mine and use that power to protect Nunnally."

It was straight, blunt, and exactly what would be expected of him. He knew the dangers of expressing the fact that he would rebel against the Empire, but just by looking at the logic, the probability of rebellion would necessarily skyrocket as soon as the decision would have been made to exile himself and Nunnally. So, in essence, he was talking truthful hypotheticals.

"I did it to protect you and Nunnally,"

_What?!_

There was no way to mask the momentary shock that crossed his features. It just wasn't possible considering the enormity of that singular statement. But as quickly as it was there it was gone as the analytical part of his brain began chewing on the new information, and finding there was a distinct lack of information to really work with. All he had was the man's word, with no evidence that he was even telling the truth. This required additional investigation.

"How would you be protecting Nunnally and I? Exiling us to a foreign country that you had plans to attack doesn't exactly strike me as protection."

"Is it really that hard to believe that I would wish to protect my children, Lelouch? I weighed all the options I had and I saw you and Nunnally surrounded by countless enemies with every few allies in the court; you were nine at the time, your mother was dead, and Nunnally was severely wounded. You two were easy targets for those who would want to wipe 'the commoner strain' out."

"And we would have been easier targets in Area 11, Your Majesty," he retorted, an edge creeping into his tone, they were valid points, but there was something else, something he couldn't put his finger on. Everything made sense, if you looked at it from a top-down perspective, but he had taken that into calculation right away, and the Emperor was overstating the threat factor. By staying in Britannia, he had veritable defenses with Schneizel and Cornelia who would guard his back while he prepared, while in Japan he would have been an easier target for a whole myriad of assassination attempts by his so-called siblings, and the Emperor if it was necessary, his supposed truth or not. So what was he hiding, what was missing to this puzzle?

"You and I are more alike than you realize, Lelouch," he said casually, "maybe that is why of my children I have viewed you as one of my favorites. You are willing to do anything for you and Nunnally to survive, including kill a sibling as a message to others to not trifle in your affairs."

_Does he know about Carine,_ Lelouch thought with a momentary panic, working to keep his surprised off his face, _how does he even know? The only people who know are myself, Jeremiah, Sayoko, and Carine._

"There is a great deal of things that I know Lelouch, things you do not have a chance of hiding from me. Your ambition is limitless when tempered with the safety of your sister, it is commendable, but it is also a liability. When I do choose to move on, you will be vulnerable, even with all of the measures you have taken to protect you, only the foolish would ignore your Achilles' heel, and neither Schneizel nor Guinevere is foolish."

"And why do you say this to me, Your Majesty?"

"Because there are other threats out there," the tower of a man replied as he spun around and continued walking, Lelouch again following suit, "threats that none of you are aware of, threats who have interfered with Britannian matters from time to time, and threats I cannot touch…for now."

_This must be the missing piece he was referring to. But if he can't touch it, what is it?! _

"You're curious, aren't you, Lelouch," the Emperor continued, "you want to know what it is that I can't touch and why I can't touch it."

He then stopped, as if looking into the distance at something, the something breaking his concentration.

"You are planning to take a vacation to Area 11, aren't you," he finally asked, "to see your half-breed Countess."

_For all that you know, you are quite lacking in the overall picture_, Lelouch thought even as he unconsciously bristled at the slur, _Stadtfeld and I are playing a game._

"That is one of the reasons," he replied, "though I would prefer you not criticize my choice in relationships. The primary reason though is Clovis invited me unofficially and I want Nunnally to actually experience a somewhat normal life, considering her lack of political worth. I will be requesting the assistance of the Ashfords in this endeavor."

"So you plan to have Nunnally attend school at the Ashford Academy. And what will you be doing outside of staying by her side."

"I'll probably do some security consulting for Clovis," Lelouch replied with a shrug, "the Elevens appear to not get the picture that submission is the preferable choice for survival. It would probably help if he had someone with war experience advising."

"I see," the Emperor trailed off, staring down his son, "in that case, if you are looking for answers, might I suggest that you look into the special projects that Clovis has on the side. One of them might give you the answers you are looking for."

_Is he saying_, his mouth opened to ask the very question on his mind, but stopped.

It was then that the Emperor made his decision, turning around and walking away.

"Permission for leave granted, Lelouch. I would like for you to keep me up to date on your investigation."

_To keep a tab on me or to guide me_, he thought.

"Of course, Your Majesty."

0000000000000

"That was awfully fatherly of you," a voice called out, snapping the Emperor out of his thoughts as he looked to his right where a lithe pink haired figure stepped out, "if I didn't know what you were planning."

"Who says I cannot act like a father to my son," Charles rumbled, irritated with his accuser, currently wearing the skin of one Anya Alstreim, Knight of Six, in reality, its current time-to-time renter was one Empress Marianne vi Britannia. The only telltale sign that Anya was under new occupancy at the moment were the red rings around her eyes signifying Geass control.

"Charles, you and I both know you vacated that responsibility when you let you-know-who get away with shooting me and then covering it up," she chastised him.

"It was necessary for the time," the Emperor dismissed with a wave of his hand.

"And exiling them," she asked, "even you and I disagreed about it back then. But what do you think Lelouch thought? Betrayed by everyone including his kin, scorned by his own father, I think you have gotten off lucky considering he only refuses to refer to you as Father."

"Directly protecting them would have only made V.V. more unpredictable. It's bad enough as is."

"You mean Carine," she finished his thoughts.

The Emperor solemnly nodded.

"You know it's only a matter of time before he starts sending one of his tykebombs after them," she said quietly , "but that's why you have him going after C.C., isn't it?"

"It's necessary if he is to rule the world after Ragnarok. You and I both know he will reject what we wish for and forcing him would only turn him against it. No, he will need Geass for what is left and there is no way she would give it under duress."

"Do you intend for him to fulfill her Code?"

"...Yes."

"A true God Emperor then. That will be quite interesting to see. Though, I do wonder who he will pick as a queen."

The Emperor smirked, causing her to frown.

"You know something, don't you?"

"Maybe," he said, before turning and walking away, leaving Marianne/Anya to stew in her irritation at the lack of an answer.

0000000000000

**_Undisclosed Location, Tokyo Settlement_**

**_April 4__th__, a.t.b. 2018_**

Out of all the jobs he had envisioned when he had joined the Britannian Army four years ago, truck operator was not even on the radar of one Sergeant Aiden Chamberlain.

Leaning back in his chair, he did his best to stifle a yawn as he fought the worst enemy he had encountered yet, boredom.

It served him right he hadn't listened to his parents and gone to college. But the life and excitement of becoming a Knightmare pilot was one that had attracted him like a moth to the flame and like the moth, he had ended up burned.

It wasn't the fact that he wasn't capable to pilot a Knightmare, no, the problem had always been he was the smartest man in the room and it had bestowed upon him a certain arrogance that had rubbed the wrong way with his instructor, who dropped him out of the program for 'lack of adequate work ethic'.

There still wasn't a day when he wanted to gut that white-haired bastard that had dressed him down like a plebe before throwing him out.

So he took the any job that was low risk until he could reapply later this year. A lowly truck driver, which while it had its perks thanks to the project he was attached to, it wasn't piloting a Knightmare. Two months, that was all he needed until he could reapply, and according to all of his sources at the Academy, the Duke that had dismissed him had been reassigned to the European theater with his own Knights.

_Ugh, if they catch me falling asleep, it's my ass; _he thought as he slowly got himself up to his feet, intent on going to splash some cold water in his face, he glanced over to his corporal, Yancy Aikens.

"Akins, I'm going to the head, I'll be back in a few minutes."

Akins, whose head was stuck deep in a magazine, waved without saying anything, causing Aiden to snort at the Private, damn kid was so wet behind the ears the only reason he was here was because his dad was nobility.

Walking out of the room, he stepped into the hallway, stretching for a moment before beginning his walk. The restrooms weren't that far away, luckily.

Stepping into the restroom he stopped in front of the mirror, looking himself down before turning on the tap and gathering water in his hands to splash it on his face, feeling the icy shock hit him.

Splashing himself one more time, he raised himself up to grab a towel to find the reflection of Corporal Akins in the mirror.

His mouth opened to demand what the Corporal was doing when he felt a sharp prick in the back of his neck as the Corporals hand clamped firmly over his mouth.

Panic set in as he tried to fight the man off, but his body refused to act, indeed, instead he simply relaxed as he felt himself quickly tire. A still-active part if his mind realized he had been poisoned as his entire world collapsed.

_I don't want to die_, his mind pleaded until it, the last part of him, shut down, the image of the expressionless Corporal burned into his brain before darkness embraced him.

0000000000000

_That's two Britannians I've killed in the last 72 hours,_ 'Akins' thought as he felt the body slump into his arms. Taking a moment to collect his killing instrument, a poison-tipped senbon, he then gathered the man up and dragged him into a stall, before settling him on the toilet, taking his pants down around his ankles and propping him up to make him appear like he was taking a dump. If anyone came in here, they would ignore the late Aiden Chamberlain until it was too late.

A year ago, he would have been crowing to high heaven that he had managed to kill two Britannians, even now he felt the urge to do it, but he had to wait, to do it now would ruin everything. So right now it was just impersonal. Two Britannians who may or may not have been directly responsible for what happened to Japan were now dead, and he was their executioner. That was how he had been taught.

Reaching to the dead man, he unpinned the rank insignia of the Sergeant, attaching it to himself after he had taken off the Corporal's insignia. That job done, he then finished scavenging off the body, taking the man's sidearm and magazines. It wouldn't be right to leave these weapons here if things went tits up.

That done, he finally stood there for a moment visualizing how he wanted the scene and making sure it matched up. Then he pulled out a small pack and set it down, zipping it open to pull out the final piece necessary for what was to come.

Reaching up, he pressed the bridge of his nose together, feeling the small click as the release kicked in, before pulling and removing the mask he had to wear, the mask that made him into Yancy Aiken.

It was nice to feel cool air on his skin, even if it was only for a moment, as he ran his hand through his brown hair, letting the air reach the pores and allowing him to feel just a tad bit cooler. He then popped out his contacts, revealing brown eyes, and removed the skintight "gloves" that made Aiken's hands. They were how he got through the various security scanners of the base to get where he is. And now, for his final act, he would become Sergeant Aiden Chamberlain.

Taking the first implement, he slipped them into his eyes, matching the green of his victim. That completed, he pulled out of the bag the "hands" of his victim, placing them on before pulling out the final piece of the disguise, the mask that would make him Aiden Chamberlain. He wasn't exactly sure how they worked, only that they were a Shinozaki family secret that was commissioned to them for their missions, but they worked brilliantly, no one had yet to figure out that there were imposters among them.

He then placed it over his face and felt it mold to him, then expand, filling in the necessary features to transform his face to Aiden Chamberlain, as soon as he felt the pinch upon the bridge of his nose, he knew it was complete. He had gone from Yancy Aikens to Aiden Chamberlain, and now he could signal Operation Storming Heaven.

Reaching into his pocket, he picked up a small headset and tapped it, activating it as it reached out to the node that he had slipped into the network that would allow him an untapped and undetectable line out of the complex.

"Nox, this is Tenebra, the package is ready for pickup," he spoke in Aiden's voice, thanks to the voice changer.

The line stayed dead for a moment, before his answer came.

"Ten."

Taking off the headset, he then slipped it into the pocket of Aiden, its job completed. If anyone found Aiden after the fact, they would be trying to figure out exactly what it was doing on his person.

That job finally completed, he picked up his mess and slipped it away as he straightened his uniform, making sure everything was transfixed as the mental countdown continued.

Stepping out of the bathroom he returned to his 'post', sitting down in the seat of his new mask.

Now there wasn't anything left to do but pass the next eight minutes until the festivities began. Thinking it would be best to work himself into readiness, he took a deep cleansing breath, willing his excitement back to a containable amount, and he extended his senses while calming his core. His mind wandered back to when he was a lot more dumb…back when he was simply Shinichiro Tamaki, idiot extraordinaire.

0000000000000

**_Shinjuku Ghetto_**

**_January 19__th__, 2017 a.t.b._**

"_Man, you see the look on that Britannian's face when we put an RPG into a truck, man, you could have sworn he was going to cry," Tamaki yelled, slamming down his beer, the alcohol suds flying as he made a content sigh._

"_It wouldn't have happened that way if you hadn't been an ass and stuck out, Tamaki," Yoshitaka Minami murmured under his breath, trying his best not to glare at the man, Toru Yoshida catching his murmur and nodding._

"_What?! I mean, it's cowardly to just kill them like that," he whined, "attacking from the shadows. They should know who was killing them."_

_Naomi Inoue looked back to their leader who was sitting by the window-sill just looking out, deep in thought. Tamaki ignored her as she walked over and talked to him, he was nodding his head to her._

"_But you risked us," Toru spoke, irritably, "what happens if they had an escort or maybe that truck was a trap for us. You needlessly exposed us."_

"_But it worked out, that's what matters."_

"_This time. What about next time," Kent Sugiyama asked._

"_Next time indeed," a new voice spoke, the group stiffened as they looked up to the doorway to Ohgi's apartment, where a hunched over figure stood, barely held up by a stick and concealed by a hood. Everything became deathly silent to the newcomer._

"_Who are you," Ohgi demanded, brought out of his funk by the possible threat to them._

"_I am no one," the man stated almost in amusement, "what I am is the more important detail you should be worried about."_

"_Shut up you geezer," he stood to his feet, beer forgotten, chair flying back as he stared down the man, he had yet to see anything from the man, but he knew the man was focused almost with laser-like intent on them._

"_Tamaki, settle," Ohgi spoke, holding up a hand, and he did as his friend wished, "so what are you?"  
_

"_I am but a humble messenger from Demosthenes and Zero."_

_This caused the collective air to be sucked out of the room. They had heard of the two, it wasn't exactly a hidden thing; Demosthenes was an older name, having been around since a year ago, but Zero, that was a new one that caused a bit of fear. Zero was quietly, but actively, snapping up resistance cells. It had been only last week that they heard the Yamato Alliance had been absorbed by the growing juggernaut._

But they were only a small cell; they weren't even worth any type of attention.

"What do they want," Ohgi asked.

"In light of the current circumstances, my masters can no longer allow anymore independent operations that may threaten their operational tempo for a campaign against Britannia. Therefore, they bestow upon me to deliver this ultimatum, you have three days to decide: join, disperse, or die."

_"What," Tamaki screamed._

"Tamaki, shut up," Ohgi snapped, his eyes narrowed upon the man.

"But Ohgi, this guy is threatening us; does he not know who we are?"

"You really think you're important young man? Killing a few Britannians is going to free Japan? You're nothing more to Britannia but dust motes, not even an annoyance. All they need to do is have one of their servants take out a rag and wipe you away. You. Are. Nothing."

_Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was the thrill of the kill from earlier, or maybe it the alcohol in his system, but those three words were like a nail being hammered into him, each word placing it deeper. All he knew was this man had crossed the damn line and, old man or not,__ he wasn't going to stand it anymore._

_He reached down, grabbed his sidearm before anyone could even recognize what he was doing, and brought it to bear on the old man…whose hand was now clamped down tightly on his wrist._

_The hell?!_

_It was then he got a good look at the "old man" as the hood slid back to reveal a faceless mask with "War" scrawled on the left side of it._

"_Little boys should respect their elders," the old man's voice changed, to a firm and strong tone that held a hint a mockery in it, as the old man's fingers dug into the pressure points on the wrist, causing him to cry out and the gun to drop straight into the old man's extended hand._

_It was finally that everyone else had finally reacted, but the old man was already on the move, tossing Tamaki to the side, ejecting the magazine from the gun, and pulling back the slide to eject the chambered round as in that motion he kicked the table weighed down with opened beer cans into Kent and Toru, before tossing his sidearm into Ohgi like a throwing knife, the unerring accuracy slammed into Ohgi right in the chest as something cracked._

_Using the momentum of the throw, the old man reeled around and drove his palm straight into the underside of Yoshitaka's chin, uppercutting and stunning the bespectacled man into dropping his drawn sidearm and into the hand of the old man._

_The old man then proceeded to throw something from his left hand, and in a moment, Naomi's body went slack as she had just drawn her own sidearm, the gun clattering to the ground. The masked man then pressed the side of the gun after ejecting the magazine, and ripped the gun apart, whirling around to engage Toru and Kent as they recovered, slipping under a haymaker punch launched by Toru and driving an open hand straight into his knee, causing it to buckle, before a sharp jab to the solar plexus robbed him of breath, before a vicious open palm strike robbed him of consciousness._

_A gunshot rang out as Kent finally retrieved his firearm, but it missed widely as the man ducked down and grabbed his wrist right where the pressure points and wrenched hard, causing Kent to drop his gun. Deprived of his gun, he stood no chance as the man quickly landed a few blows and took him down._

_Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs out, Tamaki got to his feet as their attacker finished knocking Kent out. The man then reached down and grabbed Kent's gun and proceeded to disassemble it and throw it aside before walking towards Ohgi who was painfully fighting himself upright as he seemed to fight the pain he was in._

"Relax," the man said, maddeningly calm, "you probably have a cracked rib. The last thing you want to do-"

He had turned him out already, this man had attacked them without provocation his mind screamed as he moved forward gaining momentum as he cocked back his fist and unleashed it towards the back of his head.

'War' had only enough time to turn his head to the left as the fist impacted, rewarding himself with the joy of striking a blow, feeling the mask crack and give under his fist.

The joy turned to horror as it not only failed to take him down, but now he found himself on his back, before a fist connected with his stomach, driving the air out of lungs.

Tamaki could only look up at the mask, now on his back, and realized that the mask was no longer intact as pieces from it landed on his face. That was when he caught the single brown eye staring at him in narrowed irritation.

"Britannian," he rasped, catching the unmistakable white skin of his attacker.

_The brown eye narrowed further as the man leaned back._

"And your point being," the man asked, "Zero and Demosthenes don't care who you are, only that you fight for what is right."

Rolling over, Tamaki's body protested the movement as he watched that man walk over to Naomi and retrieve something off of her, sliding it into his clothes under his wrist.

He fought himself to his feet, breath slowly restoring in painful exhalations.

"Then what's their goal," Ohgi asked through gritted teeth.

"The complete and utter destruction of the Britannian system."

Fighting to his feet through clenched teeth, goddamn his body hurt, but that didn't matter. He was going to put this Britannian bastard down.

The masked men turned his head again, as if sensing he was back on his feet, but this time he turned around.

"You really think you can take me, kid," the man asked.

"I goddamn can," he yelled, urging his body forward, as he swung at the man, intended to hit him in the face, only to catch air as to man nimbly docked and drove his fist into his right side, causing him to stagger back.

"That was your kidney, not bruised but it will be sore in the morning," the man murmured, pushing him off as the orange-haired resistance fighter staggered backwards, the man standing back up with his hands back at his side

Rubbing his side, he charged forward at War, hands now up as he tried to jab the man in the face, only for the man's gloved hand wrist just as it made contact with the faceplate, the fingers like talons digging into the pressure points, Tamaki grabbing the vice-grip like hand, before finding his feet cut out from under him as the back of his knee was buckled.

The tight hand of the man snapped down, connecting with his jaw, causing him to sprawl out.

"Bruised jaw, will probably need ice for that," he turned away, Tamaki grit his teeth as he brought himself back up to his feet as the man grabbed another gun and disassembled it, throwing it aside.

He didn't say anything, except charged forward, this time keeping his body compact as he launched a flurry of jabs as the man turned around, only to find the man swatting them away like they were nothing.

"Damn you," Tamaki snarled, only to find his center of gravity thrown off as the man sprung grabbing his hand and wrenching him past and then down as he struck that kidney again, throwing him down beside Naomi, whose eyes were beginning to flutter, coming back to.

"I've had better fights from drunken cadets," the man growled, "if one man can take down six of you with barely a scratch, what makes you think you can fight an Empire."

He screamed as he shot up and charged him, head down like a tackler, intent on taking him to the ground, that was the only way he could win, if that damn Britannian bastard could not move he could win. He collided with him, but only got him a few paces back before hands drove themselves into his sides, another cry ripped from his left, his legs faltering even as a knee drove itself into his sternum, causing him to see stars.

He then found himself back on the dirty floor.

"Just know when you're beaten," the man spoke again, the neutral tone now just irritated.

"_I'm not going to be beaten by a likes of a Britannian," Tamaki snarled as he fought back to his feet, oh god he felt on fire, like every muscle in his body was about to spontaneously combust._

_The man was before him now, irritation replaced with incandescent fury as his fist drove straight into his solar plexus, causing Tamaki to black out for a moment, his feet like rubber as he was down on his knees breathing now spastic as he held his chest, eyes wide as saucers._

_He now stood over him, looking down, Tamaki fought to bring his head up, trying to glare at the man who glared down at him._

"_You have already been beaten," the man declared, "your way of life is at an end, your mindset has failed, you are nothing more than the dust of a rotting corpse that was slain seven years ago. You claim that you want to defeat Britannia and liberate Japan. I ask you. WHAT JAPAN?!"_

_Tamaki grimaced, he didn't know. How could he know? He was only 17 when Japan fell, a street punk who dropped out of school. Maybe that was why he was here. Because he didn't have anywhere to go, and being part of a gang was all he did know. It was obvious that War saw his indecision._

"_And there you have it," he stated coldly, "you don't even know. You're just some kid who wants to be a low-rent rebel because he's too damn bigoted to accept that world has changed. Unbelievable. All of you exist because Britannia allows it and you will end because they demand it."_

"_And what do they offer that's so much better," Ohgi asked._

"_They offer a plan for the future, not a plan steeped in the past. But I've said too much. You have three days, join, disperse, or die. Good day."_

_That was it. That was the choice that he was being given, such a simple thing, three choices in single word format. What could he do, what did he want to do?_

_He wanted to be stronger. He wanted to actually be worth something. He was tired of being "stupid Tamaki" he knew he was an ass to everyone, the only reason he was tolerated was because of Ohgi, if it wasn't for Ohgi he would have been. But now, now he didn't know what…No. He knew; his option was right in front of him._

"_Wait," he rasped, fighting to his feet as the man began walking away, who then stopped, turning around._

"_I want to join," Tamaki declared, fighting to find the strength to speak even as his body didn't want to do anything except just collapse, "I…want to be like you, old man."_

_War looked at him contemplatively, before reaching into the folds of his jacket and extracting something and tossing a small card in front of Tamaki._

"_Three days, eight p.m. on the dot, one second before or after and you fail."_

_He then flipped up the cloak, lowered himself into a hunched position and picked up his stick, before hobbling out of the apartment._

_That was the day his life changed._

0000000000000

**_Outside Tokyo_**

**_April 4__th__, 2018 a.t.b._**

**_Operation Storming Heaven _**

**_T-1:15_**

**_T-1:14_**

**_T-1:13_**

Satoshi Abe took another nervous inhale of his cigarette, his hands trembling as he glanced again at his wristwatch, the digital device running a countdown.

This was it; this was his moment to shine, seven years of waiting, seven years of fearing that the Britannians would find him and kill him like the rest of his artillery regiment that had helped win the Battle of Itsukushima. This was his moment to remind the Britannians that the spirit of Itsukushima still burned brightly in the Japanese.

He still couldn't believe how Zero had managed to find him. He had thought it perfect, but he guessed when someone wanted to find you, you could never truly hide unless you were dead. That was why he was here, because Zero had requested it.

It wasn't like his job was worthwhile anymore, with the advent of Knightmare frames, the concept of howitzers and self-propelled artillery had become obsolete overnight. He still remembered how those damnable things had shredded his friends in the war.

His wristwatch chimed, warning him that there was now only thirty seconds until the beginning of Operation Storming Heaven.

Taking one final drag, the cigarette burning down, he quickly stubbed it out as he flipped open his laptop and accessed it.

It was mindlessly too easy to do it, he had designed the system to remotely activate and monitor the weapons, and all that was necessary to do was push a button. It was a far cry to the days in which he and his men had to manually load and target their weapons, now everything was done by damn computer.

One more chime, letting him know he was down to ten seconds; he accessed the program, looking at the green icon as he ran his cursor over it.

_Three. Two. One. _He pressed the button and looked up in the distance as the camouflage netting snapped back from their charge and a large barrel revealed itself and rose up towards the heavens, making adjustments to the conditions in order to fire.

Finally done, he watched as it began firing, even from where he was the sound of it was the most glorious thing he had heard. He had four of these weapons emplacements now firing on automatic, shells arcing out and towards their target.

They would only get out maybe a dozen or shells apiece before they were destroyed, but that was all that was needed for the next phase.

0000000000000

**_Facility Bravo-03_**

**_Tokyo Settlement_**

**_Operation Storming Heaven _**

**_T+0:01_**

**_T+0:02_**

**_T+0:03…_**

General Bartley Aspirius sighed as he looked over the data again, rubbing his temples as he did so.

Three years. He had been working on Code-R for three years with little to nothing to show for it. The breakthroughs he had promised were not forthcoming and needless to say even Clovis was becoming nervous with the attack upon Morgan Industries, one of their shell operations. If they hadn't pulled the subject out of there two weeks ago it could have been disastrous.

_Damn terrorists_, he thought irritably as he threw down the tablet. If only he could get that damn woman to talk, he could make the breakthroughs necessary to impress His Highness.

He was thinking again of how he could fix all of that when the lights dimmed as the room shook, causing him to nearly fall out of his chair.

"What the hell is this," he shouted in a panic as the room was bathed in red, alarms beginning to klaxon, instinctively he reached for the phone.

"Watch officer, report!"

"We're under attack General," the officer replied, as another barrage hit them causing Bartley to shake and fall on his posterior, "we have reports of artillery strikes on the upper compl-"

"GET CODE R OUT OF HERE," he yelled, if they were artillery strikes, then it was a preliminary strike, how the hell did they find out about this facility? How did they get the information on it?

"Yes sir."

He slammed down the phone as he scurried out the door, intent on getting to the loading area.

0000000000000

**_Loading Zone_**

**_Facility B-03_**

**_Operation Storming Heaven_**

**_T+6:32_**

**_T+6:33_**

**_T+6:34…_**

Took them long enough, Tamaki mused as they began loading the capsule into the trailer, watching them with carefully but not getting involved, it was against protocol.

"Sergeant," a fat man came scurrying up, Tamaki quickly scanned him to ascertain what he was, he snapped a salute as recognized the man as General Aspirius.

He stopped as he looked around, "where's your backup?"

"I don't know General. He disappeared to the restroom ten minutes before the attack and hasn't returned since."

"There's the traitor," Bartley stated anxiously his eyes furtively dancing around the area as he turned before settling on a soldier, "you, Private, you will help escort the package."

The young man came jogging up and snapped a salute before running for the truck, the General looking back as Tamaki inwardly grimacing at the deviation. That meant his job now had more on its table.

"You are to take the package to Facility Alpha-02, Sergeant," the General stated as he retrieved a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his brow nervously, "Lazlo Squad will provide escort once you get topside, your sign is Vampire, countersign is Tepes."

"Yes, General," Tamaki as Aiden Chamberlain snapped his parade-best salute to the General before running to the truck and getting in, shifting it into gear as he moved it forward, casting a glance at the armed private.

0000000000000

**_Approaching Exit C-02_**

**_Tokyo Settlement Aboveground_**

**_Operation Storming Heaven_**

**_T+15:58_**

**_T+15:59_**

**_T+16:00…_**

Commander Edith Lazlo grit her teeth as she careened through the traffic, resisting the urge to scream at the pathetic commoner trash that got in her way, the rest of her team following closely behind them.

They had been urgently deployed on a special mission request from High Command, her eyes darted to the rear display where the other three Gloucesters of her element kept up.

_Damn Kewell and his displays, _she thought _instead of having us actually in a war-footing and stamping out the ghettos, he has us parading around as a show of force so the damn civvies don't cry home to Pendragon. Damn foolery._

It was then that their charge came out of the underground tunnel and onto the highway.

"Tepes," she called to the truck, quickly getting a reply of "vampire."

"Transport, we will be your escort, accelerate to eighty and we'll clear any traffic."

"Roger."

Now, they only had three kilometers to go and then she could go back and give Kewell a piece of her-

Alarms went off in her cockpit as she just had enough time to see a blue Knightmare frame's outstretched claw collide with her Gloucester.

She didn't have much more after that as she felt the energy course through her body, agony wracking her body as the cells in her body began bursting from the massive radiation surge, and then there was nothing.

0000000000000

**_Tokyo Settlement_**

**_Emperor Charles zi Britannia Highway_**

**_Operation Storming Heaven_**

**_T+18:08_**

**_T+18:09_**

**_T+18:10…_**

"Tch," Rai clicked his tongue as the garish-looking Gloucester proceeded to explode, he was already wheeling out of the way of the counter-fire as its teammates sought to destroy him as soon as they recovered, he jumped over the truck, firing his Slash Harken into the ground and proceeded to flip over his Gekka, using the revolving blade sword to quickly slash in half one of the offending Gloucesters.

It was too easy to launch this ambush, the fact that all of the Code R extraction methods were to use plain sight methods to escape; they had immediately violated it in a panic because of the artillery strike. By placing his Gekka in hiding in a "broke down" container truck, it was the perfect ambush point that all he had to do was wait for their target to come into range. Their victims didn't have any warning.

_It's like Zero and War know exactly what they are going to do before they do it_, he mused, bringing up his arm autocannons and putting rounds into the third Gloucester, not even caring to watch as the rounds perforated his target.

_Pathetic,_ he thought, _and this is some of the best of the Purist Faction? What the hell has the JLF been doing the last 8 years?_

The final one charged at him, sword in hand, as he merely parried it with his own sword before changing grips and stabbing it through the cockpit bloc, the unit collapsing in a heat as he withdrew the sword and placed it back on holder.

"Tenebra, this is Hope," he spoke into his comm. as he pulled up beside the truck, "follow plan A-7 to the rendezvous point, Secace will be handling the handshake, good luck."

"Roger Hope."

Giving a quick wave, he ducked off the road and towards his own exfiltration point.

00000000000

**_Tokyo Settlement_**

**_Emperor Charles Zi Britannia, Exit D-37_**

**_Operation Storming Heaven_**

**T+20:05**

**T+20:06**

**T+20:07…**

Tamaki looked over at his escort, slumped over sightless eyes staring out into eternity. It wasn't exactly to plan, but the added Britannian was a complication that had needed to be dealt with. In this case, a simple senbon was all that was needed while the Private was focused on the destruction of the Knightmares; he was dead before he even knew what hit him.

He sighed as he pulled off the highway, his radio blaring with Britannian combat chatter as he tried to ascertain exactly who was where and what was what. But safe to say, it was an utter panic, they had just been able to take care of the artillery that had been pounding the facility and now they were trying to contact Lazlo.

_Good luck there_, he thought, remembering the Blue Gekka annihilating them with ease.

Turning the truck again, he entered into the prescribed area to meet up with Lazlo, they were still within the Settlement proper area, but now was the time to quickly transfer the item over to another truck, this one the kind that they wouldn't know any better to track.

It only took three more minutes for the transfer to be completed, with Tamaki taking one more look, grabbing his senbon off of the corpse of the Private, before he walked over to the truck and jumped in.

In twenty-five minutes and eight seconds, Operation Storming heaven was completed.

0000000000000

**_Location Unknown_**

**_Tokyo Settlement Sector_**

**_8:27pm 11ST (PMT+16)_**

"Hey, Zero, my man," Tamaki called out, out of his disguise and now wearing a black mask, causing Kallen to frown behind her mask as she finished her descent down the stairs into the cavernous chamber.

She glanced back over her shoulder at the silent War; she knew that he had selected Caedron for his little cabal of Shadows as he had taken to calling them. The fact that he had hidden this from her irritated her, but his reasoning were sound, she needed a deniable force that could do some of the dirty things that might reflect badly upon her and the Noppera-bo. To the rest of the Clarent cell around her, Tamaki was just another member of the Noppera-bo.

Still, she could wish that Caedron had taught him proper respect for leadership.

"Tenebra," she murmured as she strode towards the truck in question, "I take it the mission was successful then."

"Yes, sir," the Secace cell commander, Elena Dyson, who had "Destiny" in Japanese adorned on her mask, interjected, casting a glance at Tamaki, Kallen could easily tell that he rubbed her the wrong way, "Britannian search patterns are in the wrong area as planned."

Kallen nodded, that was good, and the entire plan to start having unsecure transmissions in another part of the Settlement was meant to be the icing on the cake. While Britannia was busy hunting in the wrong settlement sector, they would be free to inspect and then hide the container.

"Well then," she declared, "Secace, you can dismiss your cell. Stay here though, Tenebra, you're dismissed."

"AW COME ON," Tenebra cried out, only to shut up as Kallen stared directly at him in a glare, even with the mask, there was no doubt that he could feel it, "eh, fine Zero."

He then glanced at War, giving a quick wave, "See ya later, old man."

Then he was gone, leaving Kallen with Caedron and Secace's commander.

"Let's take a look," Zero stated, nodding her head towards Caedron who moved towards the canister, scanning it over for a few moments, before stopping.

"Zero," he commented, "this isn't a biological weapons container."

She frowned behind her mask.

"What is it then?"

"It's a…containment chamber for prisoners of special interest."

_Why would Code R be about a prisoner? According to the files the project has been ongoing for three years and it's all been about biological and cybernetic enhancements for soldiers. Why would they? Unless…._

"You have your rebreather, right?"

"Yes, Master Zero."

"Secace?"

"Yes," the commander replied, adjusting her mask.

And with their suits, they would all be protected by anything on it; it was good that she had it brought to this cell, they actually had a decontamination unit and sealed sectors to prevent crap like this. It wouldn't have bode well if whatever was contained in Code R was released and it started killing.

Her hand fell down to her concealed pistol, if it was a problem then she would put down the prisoner, but if she could use it…

"Do it, War."

War nodded one more time, before accessing the panel, pushing a few of the buttons, before the sphere split apart, golden light bathing them as it finished its releasing procedure.

As the light faded away, she finally saw the contents, her eyes widening as green hair filled her perspective as the subject fell flat on the platform.

_A Girl?! What is so important about this girl?_

She suddenly couldn't shake the feeling that she had just opened up Pandora's Box.

* * *

A/N: And there we have it, finally we're to the part where everything starts picking up. Exactly what will happen now that C.C. is in the hands of someone other than Lelouch? As for the addition of a format change, I hope this is better for everyone to understand what is going on for everyone.

I would like to thanks **dw77 **and **Magery**for the assistance.

Please leave your input; your reviews are my fuel.

In regards to the next chapter, I will probably be balancing it out with my reworking of Catharsis for the time being, so expect a new chapter in a couple weeks or so. I might just get the idea of doing a couple of all-nighters to pump out another Ice and Fire.


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